Sparks
by Tee-Cup
Summary: Greg Sanders has worked with his partner for a long time, he knows her better than anyone. But their story started somewhere. (Combination of all of my CSI fics edited and put together) I don't own CSI. Rated T for language and content later on. Greg/OC.
1. Chapter 1

**I recently made the decision to merge all of my CSI stories into one to make it easier for readers and at the same time I'm editing all of them. Therefore it begins at a setting near the beginning of season one and following through, in each chapter that is set in a new series I'll make the comment.**

**I don't own CSI or any related content, just the plot of this and Katie.**

**Sparks**

**Chapter 1**

Nick leaned over the dead body to reach into his pockets. He'd done this many times before, searching through dead bodies for any form of identification, but he still hated it. The smell still got to him; the feel of the body beneath him still felt unnatural; the presence of the spirit in the room disturbed him and the thing that bothered him the most was the fact that he had no one to talk to about it.

He didn't want to admit defeat and talk to a shrink about it he just didn't have time for that. He trusted his colleagues but he knew they felt the same way and didn't want to make them aware of his weakness, it might mean they would treat him differently. He got on with his job because putting away the bad guys made all the unease worthwhile.

He patted down the unfortunate victim's pockets and found a wallet.

"Alexander Johnson." He announced, reading the driving licence. Warrick, who was working with him on the case looked up from his pad and pen and nodded.

"There was a missing persons report filed out for and Alexander Johnson yesterday." He commented in a dry tone.

"Well David put the time of death about twenty four hours ago so he was probably killed as soon as the suspect got wind of the fact that someone was missing him." Nick replied, observing the body before him and grimacing slightly. The world was a cruel place.

"Yeah, the report was anonymous." Warrick replied and instantly caught Nick's attention. If the report was anonymous then it was more likely it could be from the killer himself.

"Really?" Nick craned his neck to look at Warrick who nodded his reply, Nick could see the same things were whirring through his friends mind as were whirring through his own.

"I'll go back to the lab and see if we have any records whatsoever of the person who filed the report." Warrick returned to jotting down notes and began to make for the door. Sensing his opportunity, Nick jumped up.

"No, no I'll go. You stay here and carry on processing the scene. I think I need some air." Nick made the excuse as he quickly collected his kit and edged towards the door.

He was gone before Warrick could say another word.

"Alright then." He muttered to himself and turned back to the destroyed hotel room in which he was stood.

"This is gonna be a long night." He began taking a photo of the scene.

…

"Ok so what's ours? You never really explained it, you were just like 'Catherine you're with me'; you always tell me what we've got." Catherine complained as she and Grissom made their way through the halls of the labs. She was jogging slightly to keep up with Grissom who was striding purposefully towards the doors to take Catherine to their crime scene.

"I didn't want to tell you in front of the whole team because I was nervous about how you might react." Grissom paused and Catherine waited for him to continue. When he didn't she raised an eyebrow in an irritated fashion.

"And...?" she asked sharply.

"It's a missing child, both parents shot in their bed." Grissom told her quietly, his eyes searching her face for any signs of her reaction.

"Oh" Catherine didn't seem even half as eager as she had before. Cases involving children were always difficult for everyone, her especially. They always reminded her of Lindsay and she struggled to think about things rationally all the time. But she wanted to, she wanted to put away the assholes who did it.

"You ok?" he asked raising an eyebrow and looking concerned.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. It's my job right?" she said with a shrug and trying to act as if nothing was wrong. Grissom resumed walking and Catherine barely heard his next comment.

"Yeah, what a job..."

…

"What's this?" Catherine asked Grissom. They were stood in the parents' bedroom, blood covered the walls and bed sheets where two bodies lay motionless. Their unseeing eyes gazing at the ceiling. They had both been shot and judging by the blood splatter, they had been sat up in bed when it had happened.

"A note?" he suggested, picking it up by the corner and turning it round to read it. "I have Hannah." Grissom read aloud in a monotonous tone.

"Care to give her back then..." Catherine replied sarcastically.

"It's what the note says. There's a drop of blood here, I'll have Greg run it and see if it's Hannah's. Also, there's what seems to be... saliva?" Grissom sounded confused but booked the evidence anyway.

"Let's hope the bad guy spit up on his ransom note." Catherine muttered snapping another photograph of the note.

"Let's hope." Grissom replied wearily, he didn't have much hope either.

"What's this?" Catherine collected a blue substance.

"Well maybe it's more Kidnapper DNA. This guy doesn't seem too smart."

"Bad guys never are."

…

Greg peered down the microscope, questioning whether what he had was even DNA. He sighed as he once again questioned why it had been sent to him if it wasn't DNA. The Marilyn Manson music blasted from the stereo which sat on the lab-top next to him, he pulled his head up and ran his hand through his hair. He leaned back in his chair and looked at the microscope. His eyes felt tired and he wanted to let them droop but he couldn't be caught sleeping on the job again, he had too much work to do.

He heard the door open and expected it to be Grissom so he rushed to turn off the music and make it look like he was working hard, he heard light footsteps and guessed that it couldn't be Grissom so he sneaked a look.

A girl who he'd seen wandering past the lab a couple of times had entered. She had shoulder length blonde hair and deep green eyes that seemed to judge and scrutinise him. She was wearing a neat, white shirt and black skinny jeans, she had pink trainers with spotty laces on her feet.

"Hello little girl, are you lost?" he asked a mocking tone. He smirked and lifted one eyebrow.

"No." She had a British accent and replied with just as much ice as he himself had used in his own tone.

"Well then, what are you doing here?" he asked, narrowing his eyes slightly at her and pursing his lips. By now she was coming around the lab bench to stand next to him, she moved with a kind of grace he'd never seen. As he pursed his lips she raised her chin, she was challenging him.

"I've been watching you for the past twenty minutes, and you keep putting off whatever is under that microscope. Let me take a look." She raised an eyebrow, initiating the challenge.

"And your true expertise and knowledge would come from where?" he asked.

"Oxford University, I study there. But I'm over here studying and getting work experience. They asked if I would like to work in a lab for a year, I never miss an opportunity." She smiled patronisingly, a thought stirred in Greg's head. He'd heard of some twelve year old British prodigy but thought it was just a joke that Grissom was playing on him to prove people could be smarter than him.

"Wait a second." She went for the microscope but he placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back. She looked annoyed as he stopped her, "What's your name?"

"Katie Sparks." His eyes widened in surprise at her name. So the British prodigy was real, "Ah, you know me." she smiled with an air of pride. She knew she had him now.

"I wish." He breathed. He was genuinely in awe of this kid, she was the smartest person he'd heard of. She was taking a year out of studying forensic sciences at Oxford to gain work experience in a real lab environment. She'd already completed a year and she was only twelve years old. She was smarter than him. He wondered how lonely she must be.

"So, now can I look?" she asked, exasperated. He gestured towards the microscope and she peeked in, after a second grin spread across her face.

Then Greg heard the door again, he looked up to see Grissom wandering over to them. He noticed Katie and immediately a smile touched his lips. Katie stood up and smiled at Greg.

"What you have here, is, in fact. A smudge of eyeliner, not that hard to work out, not sure why it was sent to you, but none the less, eyeliner." She smiled broadly and he could see the mocking in her eyes. Greg blushed as he realised just how badly he'd been shown up in front of his boss.

Grissom laughed and Katie noticed that he had entered.

"Oh hello Mr Grissom. I was waiting for you to get back and Mr Sanders didn't know what this was but I think it's a mix up, it was most likely supposed to be sent to trace." She said with more respect for Grissom than Greg, she smiled warmly. She would have appeared sweet to Greg if she wasn't so annoying.

"Yes, Katie you are right as usual, and actually when you came to see me then I was going to have you working here in DNA, with Mr Sanders here." Grissom said, motioning to Greg who tried to force a smile that he thought probably turned out a grimace.

"Oh, ok," she smiled and turned back to Greg, "Looks like your showing me the ropes." She said, all too brightly.

"Looks like it." He replied in a dull tone.

"I'll leave you too it." Grissom smiled as he left. Katie turned to Greg expectantly and he looked back at her. He had no idea what to do or say, she was twelve. And annoyingly smart.

"Ok ground rules," he began, leaning forward in his stool, "No touching anything without asking me first. I confirm everything you do, and you have to promise to laugh at all my jokes."

"What if they're not funny?"

"My jokes are always funny."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

'Why am I so cut up about this?' Nick thought to himself.

He was going over the evidence in the break room, the drivers licence was being reviewed and Judy was trying to find the person who had filed the missing persons report. But all Nick seemed to be able to think about was the dead man. It was like he still felt the presence of the cold lifeless body around him, and all he seemed to be able to see were the unseeing eyes everywhere he turned.

The memories spun around in his head like a demo reel, it was bringing on a headache. Just as he thought that his head was going to burst from the pressure, a voice interrupted him.

"Hey Nick, so Judy is pulling up the surveillance footage of the guy who was here filing the report to see what we can find." Warrick informed him. "Hey you want a soda?" he asked as he crouched next to the small fridge.

"No thanks man, I'm good." Nick replied rubbing his head, trying to rub away the etched memories of death.

"You all right?" Warrick asked walking over to Nick and taking the seat next to him.

"Yeah I'm fine, just headaches you know..."

"Yeah, I used to get those too. Let me guess, you keep on seeing dead bodies, lots of nasty things which you might have encountered in your line of work and now they're finally starting to get to you?" Warrick looked at his friend with a knowing look in his eyes. An understanding look, Nick could trust him and he knew that.

"Yeah," he said leaning back in his chair, he decided to reveal everything, "I just hate having the idea of dead people constantly surrounding me, is there any way to do this job without being haunted by the faces of the deceased? I mean I love my job and all but it's hard." he asked Warrick in a resigned tone. There was a slight pause.

"You could always switch places with Greg," Warrick suggested. Nick chuckled.

"Nah man I'm serious! Greg is a CSI wannabe and he would kill for your job, as bad a choice of words that is." Warrick continued and Nick continued to laugh, sensing a diversion Warrick quickly switched the subject, "By the way have you met our newest addition to the team?" Nick shook his head and Warrick leaned back with a smile "Katie Sparks."

"What? _The _Katie Sparks? As in the already in College Katie Sparks? And she's working here?" Nick asked in disbelief. Warrick nodded smiling.

"She's in Greg's lab as we speak."

"She's working with Greg? Poor kid."

"I'm sure she can handle him."

Nick and Warrick laughed together contemplating the ideas of Greg and Katie working together and as their conversation began to draw to a close.

"You know, you can always talk to Grissom, he's not always as big and scary as you might think..." Warrick told Nick, giving him a light punch on the arm as he got up to leave.

"He's always ready to chat, as is basically everyone in this lab. In complete confidentiality. I get that talking to shrink isn't the best option all of the time. But if things are bad then maybe talking to the shrink would be best for you. Just take it easy man."

Nick was left alone to think about what Warrick had said.

…

"Hey Greg I heard you were waiting for me?" Warrick asked as he sauntered into the DNA lab.

"Ah yes," Greg smiled spinning in his chair to face him, "I have been expecting you."

"What you got for us?" Warrick asked in an annoyed tone.

"Ok, well I analysed your vic's blood sample and found something unusual. Check it out." Greg said, gesturing dramatically to a computer screen.

Warrick glanced at the computer screen that Greg was pointing to. Then he looked back to Greg seeking an explanation. He knew what it was, but he wanted to ensure Greg didn't skimp out on any of his job.

"Rohypnol." Greg said simply and at that moment Nick walked through the door.

"Roofies, a date rape drug?" he asked as he'd just entered.

"Yep, knocked him out cold. Much like our little friend over there." Greg jabbed a thumb behind his shoulder where they noticed Katie curled up in a chair fast asleep. Greg rolled his eyes

"Aw, well you can't really blame her, she's twelve on a night shift." Nick smiled going over to stand next to her.

"Yeah, I thought you didn't like her stealing your thunder Greg?" Warrick asked going to join Nick and Greg followed.

"Yeah, well she's kind of sweet you know? Apart from completely humiliating me in front of Grissom she's quite cool. She can make me laugh, she doesn't even try she just can. Then it's really sweet the way she looks all confused when I laugh mean she's really annoyingly smart too and I pretend I don't really like her, but I think we get on okay."

"Aw, Greg you like her. Looks like you guys are gonna have a good year working together." Nick grinned.

"Yeah I guess, plus she does like all my work. I'm gonna have to start working hard again once she's gone." He smiled, brushing a strand of hair from her face. She shifted a bit and mumbled before settling back down again.

"What's going on in here?" a new voice asked from the doorway, the three men spun around to face Catherine. Shielding the sleeping Katie from Catherine.

"Nothing." They said in unison. Nick and Warrick left hastily and Greg walked over to the bench.

"What can I help you with?" he asked, trying to keep Catherine busy so she wouldn't notice Katie asleep a few meters away.

"The saliva and blood drop?" she said expectantly, suddenly it triggered in his brain.

"Ah yes, the blood drop was in fact Hannah's and I ran the saliva through the system and it came back to an Isaac Drake." He informed her

"Thanks Greg," Catherine smiled as she left, going to find Grissom. Greg immediately turned back to Katie, she stirred lightly but remained asleep. He walked over to her and pushed another strand of hair out of her face her eyelids flickered open and she saw him, squinting slightly at the bright lights of the lab.

"Hey," Greg smiled, she made to get up but he gently pushed her back. "Nah, go back to sleep, I'm fine here."

"I'm here for work experience. Sleeping isn't really working, or very experiencing." She said coldly her voice still groggy from sleep. "Sorry," she said, softer. "I just haven't had a lot of sleep lately."

"It's understandable, jet lag and all." Greg smile, allowing Katie to get up and stretch.

"I've been in America three months." She told him as she stood up and Greg returned to his work station as she returned to hers on the opposite side of the bench.

"Then why haven't you been sleeping?" Greg asked a curios tinge to his voice. Katie chewed her lip and refused to make eye contact. She looked down at the bench and pouted her lips slightly

"Must be time differences." She said in a tone that suggested the conversation was over and proceeded to return to her work, leaving Greg confused. Katie was one difficult girl to figure out.

…

Grissom caught up to Catherine whilst she was walking determinedly toward the exit.

"Where are you going?" he asked her almost jogging to keep up.

"Isaac Drake, I did a bit of research and found out that he lives near Hannah's house and was very good friends with her parents." She replied coldly.

"That means nothing unless you have a warrant."

Catherine said nothing but only held up the slip of paper which was the warrant to search his apartment.

"What evidence do you have against him that persuaded the judge?" Grissom asked in surprise.

"The saliva and a little bit of my own magic." She replied.

"Fair enough." He shrugged.

They turned up at Isaac Drake's apartment within ten minutes with an officer and Brass. Brass knocked on the door and handed over the warrant, Grissom and Catherine then proceeded to search the place. Grissom checked the living room, kitchen area and bathroom, whilst Catherine went into the bedroom.

She was stood by the window when she thought she heard a slight noise from the wardrobe opposite her. She carefully edged round the bed towards the wardrobe, she pulled open the door and revealed a little girl, red-headed and about the age of eight. She had a split lip and a black eye. Her lips were covered in blood, the blood of her wound which hadn't even been tended to, she crouched on the bottom of the wardrobe in a bed of what seemed to be Drake's jackets. She looked up at Catherine through her fringe with frightened eyes.

Catherine knelt down next to her and spoke gently, "Hey, are you Hannah?"

Hannah nodded.

"It's ok, my name's Catherine, I'm here to take you away. Back to your family."

Hannah nodded and Catherine helped her up, she went to walk but found she couldn't and collapsed into a little heap with a slight cry of pain.

Catherine knelt down beside her once more, she glanced at Hannah's leg, and it was obviously broken, painfully.

"I need paramedics in here!" she shouted out to the others before returning her attention to Hannah. She wiped the tears away that dribbled down her cheeks and squeezed her hand softly, then something happened that warmed Catherine's heart, no matter how much pain she was in, no matter how traumatised she was, Hannah smiled the smallest of smiles.

…

"Nick, man, what's the matter?" Warrick asked, they'd been sitting in the break room going over evidence, Nick's head had been pounding again. He needed to sleep, to get these images of cold dead eyes from his mind. But he couldn't, and now Warrick was painfully aware of his distress. Nick shook his head.

"You still haven't gone to Grissom have you?" Warrick asked and he shook his head again, more sorrowful this time, "Dude, you got to go. If it's gonna start affecting your work and job performance then you need to talk to someone, if you don't then it'll only get worse."

"Fine, I'll go later." Nick replied in a clipped tone.

"Um, excuse me?" a new addition, a man was stood in the doorway, he had short cropped dark hair and was very pale.

"Yes?" Warrick said standing.

"I need to confess to something, but it wasn't murder, Alex. Alexander Johnson. He's my brother. It was an accident, he just wanted a bit of excitement, his girlfriend back home is, you know, a bitch. He hooked up with a hooker and I got jealous, so I slipped him some roofies to make him go to sleep, you know embarrass him in front of the hooker and maybe make him see sense that his girlfriend loves him. But I think I slipped him too much, when I found him he was dead, I went straight to file a missing persons report but I didn't want to be known." The man said in a rush, tears dribbling down his cheeks.

"Dude, I feel sorry for you." Nick grimaced at the end of the story, but he genuinely meant it.

…

"Grissom, can I uh, can I have a word?" Nick asked as he knocked gingerly on his supervisor's door.

"Sure, what is it Nicky?" Grissom smiled warmly, putting down his pen.

"I just, I wanted to ask some advice." Nick said quietly, his eyes on the floor.

"Shoot." Grissom replied.

"Ok, I keep on seeing things, dead people."

"Well you do work in forensic science Nicky."

"No, I mean like, outside of work. And eyes, cold, dead eyes. They're the worst. What's wrong with me?" Nick asked, his voice was shaky and it took a lot for him not to cry.

"Nothing is Nicky," Grissom said reassuringly. "Everyone gets it, and it passes. You are an exceptional CSI, and we value your work. These images have come to every single one of us, including me. But you have to trust me they'll pass. And I'm pretty sure that once you leave this room they'll leave too. Because they always do once you talk to someone."

Suddenly Nick felt relieved, and he knew that Grissom was right, they would go as soon as he left, and he felt so much better.

"Thanks Gris." He smiled, getting up to go home and sleep an easy, dreamless sleep.

…

Greg was laughing at something Katie had said.

"What?" she asked him bewildered, "What's the Joke?"

"You made it!" he said between gasps for air.

"But I didn't make a joke!" she said looking worried and confused. The dark blonde hair which had been in a tight ponytail at the beginning of the night now drooping scruffily part way down her back.

"Oh don't worry." Greg smiled brushing away a tear which had leaked from his eye.

They were nearing the main doors which lead to the parking lot, after a difficult night of work they were looking forward to going home and sleeping.

They stopped to say their goodbyes a little way away from the doors, "Well good evening Greg, well more precisely good morning, but anyway..." the past couple of days had seen the pair of them bond.

"Good morning Katie." They smiled at one another and. Katie glanced at the doors and her face fell. All of a sudden she looked terrified.

"My dad's here. I have to go." She said quickly, but she didn't move.

"Hey, is that your dad?" Greg said cheerfully, she just nodded. "Well you must be happy to see him?" suddenly he didn't seem so cheerful anymore. Katie turned her head to look at him, tears were glassing over her eyes and fear was etched in her featured.

"Oh Greg Sanders," she said fondly, she continued in a whisper that he could barely hear, "if only you knew."

Then she turned simply and began to walk towards her father who was eyeing Greg suspiciously.

As Katie neared he smiled a seemingly forced smile and put a hand on her shoulder, he forcefully tightened her ponytail so it was struggling against her head. Greg got the impression that appearance was everything to this man.

Greg watched as he leaned down and whispered into his daughter's ear, she only nodded. Then just for the briefest moment, she turned her head back to look at Greg with fear filled eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter moves on towards a setting near the end of the first series.**

**Chapter 3**

A solitary tear dribbled down Sara's cheek, she was dressed all in black, the appropriate attire for a funeral. She wore a long black dress with charcoal boots. She held an ebony handbag in her hands as she sat in the pews of the church, she'd come to the funeral alone and she now wished she hadn't. She wished there was someone there to hold her hand and cry with her, but the only person in the world who she'd trusted and loved so very much was now dead.

Elaine Night that was her name. She'd always been Sara's best friend, ever since she could remember, and now she'd been brutally murdered, so savagely that it was a closed casket ceremony. Sara didn't want to think back to the investigation, but now as she gazed at an old picture of her dear friend she couldn't help it, her mind began to re-track.

…

As soon as Sara got the call that there was a body on the outskirts of Vegas she got a sinking feeling in her stomach. She had a bad feeling about this case right from the offset. She was driving alone in the dark of Vegas, halfway to the crime scene when she got Grissom's call. He was already there, she answered the phone despite driving. It probably wasn't the best thing for a member of law enforcement to be doing.

"Hey Sara, don't bother coming down, we're all ok here." He told her, she wasn't sure but always followed Grissom's orders. She turned around and began to make her way back to the lab. She supposed she would have to chat to Greg and Katie, Katie was always fun to talk to. It'd been a year since she'd first come to the lab and her and Greg were the best of friends. Even though Sara knew that the first time Katie had arrived Greg had seen something between Katie and her father. But he refused to talk to Katie about it, even after the next day she'd turned up with a cut lip and a bruise on her cheek. But she'd settled in and Greg didn't want to disturb that, Sara understood that but she still worried.

Sara was the only one Greg was able to confide in, he was worried about Katie, and he had no idea what to do about it. Sara was worried too; she didn't want to talk to Katie about it either. No one did, Katie was too sensitive, she was only thirteen, and she didn't deserve to be pressured into anything.

…

When Greg entered the lab he found Sara and Katie playing cards. Katie was winning, just like always. When Greg saw the injuries on Katie's face a whole new level of worry crossed his mind. She had a bruised cheek bone and he noticed bruises around her neck. Had someone tried to strangle her? She looked up and smiled when she saw him; he returned her smile and walked over to join them. She'd gotten significantly less annoying since they had first met.

"Who's winning?" he asked instinctively, even though he already knew the answer.

"Katie," Sara said with a smile.

"Of course," Greg replied as he sat next to Katie. Suddenly a vibrating noise came from near Katie; she reached into her pocket and pulled out a mobile phone. She put it to her ear and listened, she excused herself and walked out to talk to whoever was on the other end. Greg and Sara used this as an opportunity to discuss her latest injuries.

"Did you see the bruises on her neck?" Greg asked. Sara nodded, "Do you think we should tell someone?" Sara shook her head. Greg was still worried though, as was Sara.

Katie came back in and the adults plastered the fake smiles back on their faces in an unconvincing fashion. Katie returned them, but her own smile seemed slightly off also. Then Grissom walked in and simply handed blood to Greg.

"I need identification. Now." He ordered and Greg set to work. Katie attempting to assist and learn from him.

A little while later he had the identification up on the screen.

Grissom walked in on a sight he did not expect, Sara was sat with her head in her hands, crying her eyes out. Katie had her arms around Sara, comforting her and Greg looked concerned. He turned the computer screen so Grissom could see, it was a woman, and her name was Elaine Night.

…

She liked being pretty, it meant all the right guys liked you, they'd always pay a little extra. Elaine had long ebony hair and bright blue eyes, she had striking features and was incredibly beautiful. She worked at a strip club in Las Vegas and so naturally, had an amazing figure.

She got out of the car and made her way into work, she wasn't wearing much, a dark coat and simply her underwear underneath, along with a couple of hair bands she didn't need anything else except for the essentials she carried in her purse. Walking across the shadowy parking lot she thought she heard a noise, she wheeled around but only saw her car and the others around it.

She smiled at herself for being so silly and continued on the way to her workplace. As she walked quickly and confidently she pulled her lipstick from her purse and began to brush it on briskly, she was late enough as it was. She felt the hand around her waist before the one over her mouth, but they were split seconds apart, not enough time to scream. They grabbed her from behind and pinned her arms to her sides and the other clamped tight over her newly made up mouth.

She couldn't even scream, couldn't cry out for help, the mysterious attacker began to drag her away, her eyes were watering, she couldn't draw air, she knew that if she didn't take a breath soon then she would faint, but she couldn't go down without a fight.

Then his hand was gone from her mouth, as she gasped for breath she realised she would need an extra couple of seconds to gather enough breath for a cry for help, but her hands were still pinned to her sides, she gathered the breath she could but the hand was replaced by a gag. At least she could breath, she didn't want to suffocate to death; there were fewer ways to fight that.

Her attacker clasped her arms behind her back and put what seemed to be flexi-cuffs around them, no escape. Tears began to leak down her cheeks. The attacker pushed her head down and she bundled into the trunk of a car. As the trunk slammed shut she let out a slight whimper, she was ashamed at being so weak, upset that there was no one to see her and her head hurt at the thought of what could happen to her. As she felt the car start and begin to drive away she kicked off the high-heeled shoes she used for dancing, - 'comfort first' her best friend Sara had joked, literally hours before, before they were both supposed to start work.

Sara worked with the LVPD, maybe they'd find her; maybe she'd be safe. She doubted it, Sara was more often than not disappointed as to how they'd been too late to save someone. She always wished there was one more person she could have saved. Elaine always counted that as courage and determination.

Elaine wasn't sure how long she was in the car for but as she calmed herself she thought about the small glimpse she'd had of her attacker. He was a he, he'd been big, muscular, able to hold her still whilst opening the boot and putting her gag on one handed. Clever, he knew exactly when there'd be no one else but her in the parking lot. Elaine knew, this night, was not going to be a pleasant one.

…

Katie kept her arms around Sara when Grissom entered, he looked at the screen and seemed confused.

"Isn't that Elaine Night?" he hadn't looked at the name, just the photo. Sara gave another whimper, and Katie tightened her arms in a comforting way. Grissom eyed them, still obviously confused.

"This is Sara's best friend." Katie informed him bluntly.

"Couldn't she even be identified?" Sara lifted her head and looked up at Grissom, tears were all around her eyes and streaming down her cheeks.

"No, I'm sorry." Grissom said sympathetically. He motioned for Katie to move and she withdrew her arms and hurried over to where Greg was sitting. She took the seat next to him, she looked sad herself, and not just sympathetic sad.

Grissom took Sara's arm and they walked out together, he put his arm around her and they walked in a daze out to the car park. Sara didn't remember getting in the car, she just found herself strapping herself in, in an absent minded daze. Grissom drove them to Sara's apartment and they got out. Again Sara didn't remember getting out of the car just suddenly appeared in her apartment. She was sat on the couch, the shock taking over the tears now and she couldn't make any more tears come.

Grissom sat down beside Sara and handed her a glass of water, she took it but her hands were shaking so much that it was slopping wildly everywhere. She stared into space and Grissom removed the glass from her hands and placed it onto the glass coffee table in front of them.

"How did she die?" Sara asked quietly.

"I don't think you need to know..." Grissom tried but Sara was persistent and interrupted him.

"How, did she die?" she asked, a little louder this time.

"She died quickly, with not a lot of pain, it was more what happened to her after death..." Grissom said slowly.

"What happened?" Sara asked.

"She was killed with a shot to her head, she has multiple bruising around the abdomen, and she had multiple stab wounds, all over her body. Her head had been lifted up and smashed back down so many times that the skull was smashed and both her legs and both her arms were snapped." He explained it fully. She just nodded, looking faintly sick.

"Are you ok?" he asked, she nodded again, then shook her head.

"Right now, I need somebody... In situations like this I would usually turn to Elaine, but now I can't..." a solitary tear fell down her cheek and she brushed at it quickly.

"You can turn to me." Grissom said softly. He put one arm around her and his other hand over her own. Her watery eyes connected with his own sympathetic ones and they both felt a deep connection spanning much farther than just a meet of the eyes. Their souls.

Their souls, dragging them together in a mystical sense, the fact that when their lips finally met everything made complete sense to them, the universe and all its mysteries unravelled. But as much as Grissom loved wisdom and the extra knowledge that this kiss bought, he couldn't stand the guilt her felt at the fact that the other half of his soul was grieving, and he was taking advantage of this grief.

He pulled away gently and no words needed to be exchanged as Sara understood completely. She leant her head on his shoulder and they sat, merely contemplating on the answers, the answers to everything.

…

Katie was being unusually quiet, even though this case was obviously much more personal to the team than usual she would at least usually be wowing Greg with her normal babble of useless yet interesting facts.

Now she examined the small amount of saliva that had been assigned to her in absolute silence. Only asking for Greg's approval. Once he had given it she continued to writing up what she knew and running it through the database. Normal routine with a lack of usual spark.

He caught her chewing on her lip and staring into space, he allowed his mind to wander to almost a year ago when he had first met her. She had seemed so young yet she had knowledge beyond her years, always had a book handy; always knew the answer. He'd watched her grow over the past year, she was different, she always seemed so concentrated yet she would always have a little sparkle in her eyes which Greg knew meant she had a mischievous side. The side that a girl her age should have, she should have a childhood, instead here she was working, at thirteen years old.

"Katie," Greg plucked up every ounce of courage he'd ever gained throughout his life. "How did you get the bruises around your neck?" he asked softly, she froze for a moment before slowly rising from the micro-scope, Greg could see sadness and even fear on her face.

"I can't tell anyone, I mustn't." She whispered.

"You can tell me." He said comfortingly, placing a hand on her arm.

She just shook her head and closed her eyes, she looked sick. "Right now, Sara needs us. That's all that matters, the work is all that matters." She said the words like they were rehearsed, like she'd been forced to repeat them over and over again. An indoctrination or a dogma that had been drilled into her from a young age, he recognised this well.

Greg was about to object when the screen bleeped up and the saliva got a match. It was a man named Bill Subtle. He was massive. Truly muscly, gargantuan muscles. He was a giant of a man. The man made Katie gasp and jump up.

"What?" Greg asked, wheeling round in his chair to face Katie who had seized the book of the most dangerous criminals and was rifling through so fast that paper cuts were forming on her hands faster than Greg had seen in his life. Even though this miniscule cuts leaked tiny droplets of blood, Katie never showed an ounce of pain. She found what she was looking for and handed him the book before wiping her hands on her jeans.

Greg glanced down at the picture of the man in the book, and then back up to the picture of the man on the screen, then back down again. They were the same.

"So he's one of the most dangerous criminals in Vegas?" Greg said and Katie nodded.

"I'll go tell… Well Grissom isn't here so, someone." She said, getting up to leave.

"Are you sure? I can go, or page someone to come here." He said, also getting up.

"No." she almost snapped, there was a pause, "No, sorry," she said, more gently, "I just, need some air. Need to walk around, I'll find someone…" she said and she left. Greg sighed and turned back to his work, there was no way Katie was going to tell him how she got the bruises around her neck. But he could tell she was frightened, but of who?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The first person that Katie ran into was Grissom. She saw him, he was walking towards her; she jogged over to him and held up the book.

"The saliva matched his. You have your case breaker… how's Sara?" she asked sympathetically but also wasting no time. She had grown up so much in the past year, she was almost as tall as him now, taller than most thirteen year olds.

"Him? He's one of the worst criminals here in Las Vegas… She's ok, just reached her breaking point, you know?" he said sadly.

"I know… I understand, did you leave her home alone?" she asked.

"No, she came back. She went to see Greg, she wanted to talk to him, he always could make her feel better." He said and there was something else in his voice, something Katie couldn't quite work out.

"Fair enough…" Katie had left Greg's company over half an hour ago, she'd wandered around aimlessly, no one had spoken to her she'd just wandered. She knew that she had to tell Greg what was going on, but she didn't want to. Grissom walked away and Katie knew that she had no choice but to go back to Greg now, she was going to tell him.

…

When Sara walked into Greg's lab, he was surprised. He thought that Grissom was supposed to take her home. She walked over to him and sat down, he studied her face. She looked as though she'd been crying a lot, but that didn't surprise him. She looked him in the eyes.

"Tell me who did this Greg." She said bluntly. No emotion being betrayed in her voice. But a voice in his head was telling him not to tell her.

"Sara, I can't I really think you should go be with Catherine, or Warwick, or Nick or Grissom. But not here, if Grissom tells you then he tells you, but I don't think I should be the one to tell you. And don't ask Katie to either. Because you know she won't." Sara smiled faintly. She knew Katie wouldn't. But she knew that she needed to know who did this to her best friend.

So, without another word she got up, and made the long journey to Grissom's office.

When she arrived she knocked gently, he looked up from a book; she didn't recognize the book from by the door. He covered it with papers as she went over to him.

"Sara?" he asked her name as a question, questioning why she was there.

"I want to know who did this. I have a right to know." She demanded.

"Sara, I know you have a right, but as your friend, I don't want to tell you."

"It's not up to you whether you want to tell me or not! It's my decision, she was _my _best friend! I have a right to know if I want to! You have a duty to tell me!" her voice was even, but Grissom could see frustration building up inside her, threatening to bubble over, a breaking point.

"I know, I understand. But you can't continue with this case, it's a conflict of interest! I can't allow you to, I really think you should go home and relax, think."

Sara nodded, seeing sense.

"Ok" she whispered hoarsely, and she left.

Grissom watched her leave and sighed. He waited a few moments before getting up, leaving the book on the page he'd been studying, the page of their suspect, and he went to find Warwick to ask for his help. He needed to find this man and bring him in. if not for Sara's sake, for the sake of the team.

…

Once she saw that Grissom had walked away she crept into the office stealthily, she moved aside the papers and glanced down at the book. The most dangerous criminals in Las Vegas, over half of them were locked up but unfortunately that small remainder weren't. And this man wasn't, why was Grissom looking at him? Then it clicked in her mind. This was the man who'd killed Elaine.

She dropped the book in a mixture of shock and disgust, there was an address in there, apparently it was his last known address but when the police had gone to check it out no-one had been there. She didn't care, she was going there again, because if he was there, or had even been there recently, then she would find him. And she would get revenge.

…

Katie walked slowly into the lab, she was nervous. She sat down and hoped the Greg wouldn't notice that she'd been absent for forty-five minutes. She didn't have anything to do, she'd already completed all her work so she started to doodle a picture on her notepad.

"Where have you been?" Greg asked without looking up from his own work. She cringed guiltily.

"Um, looking for Grissom…" she said, acting casual.

"For that long?" he said, he didn't believe her.

"I couldn't find him…" she stuttered, she knew she wasn't being believable but she was trying which was always a start.

"Katie." Greg began softly, he pulled away from his work and looked her right in the eyes. "Tell me what's going on… you can trust me!"

There was a slight pause.

"It's not that I don't trust you Greg, it's that I don't trust myself." She said quietly.

"Listen, I, uh, I saw what happened with you and your father, you were scared and I saw that! You were upset! Is it him?! Is he mistreating you?! Is he the one who's given you these bruises?!" Greg said, he got up and walked around the bench before taking her shoulders. She wasn't scared, just upset. Her eyes threatened tears but she kept herself composed, she knew this was coming and the only thing she could do was keep calm and tell him, or face the pain of having to leave him without saying goodbye.

"Greg, no. forget about the bruises, I'm just clumsy they're accidents. My dad and I had just had an argument, nothing's happening. The reason why I've been upset is because… because…" she took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh, "because I have to leave. I'm going back to England to take my exams and I don't think I'm ever coming back…"

Greg was shocked into silence, he'd expected this but she wasn't due to leave for another month.

"When are you leaving?" he asked almost whispered.

"Today is my last day…" she replied in equal quietness.

"But…" Greg knew he couldn't exactly argue. This was what had to happen. He removed his hands from her shoulders and took a few paces back. "Oh." Was all he could say.

The terrible moment was broken by a rushed interruption from Grissom.

"Have you guys seen Sara?!" he shouted, they shook their heads, tears in both their eyes, Grissom knew Katie had probably just said goodbye. He had no time to deal with comforting, he had to find Sara. He'd tried calling her but it had only gone to voice-mail, same on her home phone. He rushed out and asked anyone he saw. Finally he ran into Warrick who'd been looking for her too.

"Any luck?" Grissom asked and Warrick shook his head. "Oh no…"

"Gris, listen, you said you found the book in your office, what if she was looking at it and decided to go to the address?" Warrick said.

"Good point, come on, we'll get Brass on the way, we have to get to that address…. If Sara's gone there she could be danger."

He began walking briskly towards the exit and muttered under his breath, "Come on Sara; be ok. Please be ok…."

…

Sara pulled up outside the house and jumped out of the car, the adrenaline was fuelling her sprint towards the house; it was the only thing keeping her going. She wouldn't allow grief to consume her in this moment, she had to give into the anger rather than the sadness.

She kicked in the door and holding her gun up she ran inside, searching every room and coming up with nothing. It was a bungalow so there was no upstairs, she dropped her gun and leaned against the wall nearly crying. Exasperated, she'd failed her best friend and she was bound to be put on suspension of even lose her job for this. She stifled a sob and looked up, right at a door.

A door she hadn't checked, adrenaline kicking back in she swung it open and began sprinting down a flight of stairs, into the dark. She saw a cord and pulled it when she reached the bottom of the stairs and the basement was flooded with light. A man stood with his back to her in the corner. He was a massive man, he turned slowly to face her.

He was bald with steely grey eyes and grey stubble lining his face and covering his chin. He had a thin mouth and narrow eyes, he looked middle-aged and was wearing a neat suit. But the suit was moth-eaten, he'd had it a long time.

"Las Vegas Police, put your hands up…" Sara demanded confidently, he gestured to the metal table in the middle of the room, it was caked in blood, as was the dirty floor. Evidently his torture chamber, Sara felt sick as she realised this would be where her best friend had been tortured and sadistically killed.

"You like my handiwork?" he asked slowly, smiling slightly.

"I said put your hands where I can see them!" she shouted.

"Well, you've no back up, so I don't see that I really need to…" he grinned, starting to walk slowly around the metal table, Sara kept her gun trained on him.

"Just do it!" she shouted, "And don't move another inch or I'll shoot!" he stopped walking and just stood with his hands in his pockets, smiling at her.

"So full of courage, full of bravery, just like Elaine. Do you want me to tell you about her?" he said in a sing-song voice. He was enjoying emotionally torturing her.

"Shut up." She said bluntly.

"How I killed her?"

"Shut up!"

"How I tortured her?"

"I said shut up!" she screamed, tears coming to her eyes.

"Aha," he laughed, "Well, first I drugged her, then I tied her up and once I got here I tied her to the table, then I worked on breaking her bones…"

"If you don't shut up right now I'll shoot you."

"I'll do the same to you Sara, or maybe Grissom."

"How do you know so much?"

"I'm a clever man, with… connections." He smiled maliciously. "And now Sara, it's your turn."

Suddenly he sprang at her, pulling a knife with a serrated edge from his pocket, she didn't realise she'd pulled the trigger until the shot was fired. She gasped as he collapsed a meter or so away from her. She heard running down the stairs but couldn't move, she was paralyzed by fear and shock and mourning the loss of Elaine.

Suddenly there were arms around her and she felt the gun fall from her hands and she was sinking towards the floor. But someone was holding, preventing her from falling.

"It's ok Sara, we're here," Grissom's voice whispered into her ear, "It's alright…"

…

A week had passed, Sara was sat in a church awaiting her turn to read an extract of Elaine's favourite Shakespearean play: 'As You Like It'. Her name was called and she stood and walked down the chilly aisle. Every eye was on her, she stood at the podium. Took a deep breath, closed her eyes and introduced her speech.

"Elaine loved the play As You Like It by William Shakespeare. She especially loved the character Jacques, she found his melancholy attitude hilarious, I remember going to see it with her and her just laughing at Jacques even though she had no idea what was going on. Her favourite speech from the play was one by him, and so now I'm going to read it.

_"_All the world's a stage,  
and all the men and women merely players;  
they have their exits and their entrances,  
and one man in his time plays many parts,  
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,  
mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.  
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel  
and shining morning face, creeping like snail  
unwillingly to school. And then the lover,  
sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad  
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,  
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the part,  
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,  
Seeking the bubble reputation  
Even in the canon's mouth. And then the justice,  
in fair round belly with good capon lined,  
with eyes severe and beard of formal cut,  
Full of wise saws and modern instances;  
and so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts  
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon*  
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;  
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide  
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,  
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes  
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,  
that ends this strange eventful history,  
is second childishness and mere oblivion,  
sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."

As she finished she looked up and was surprised to see Grissom sat in the place next to hers. She stepped off the podium and had to stop herself from running down the aisle to see him. She slipped into her seat and he took her hand, she was glad he was here, she had someone to comfort her now.

She rested her head on Grissom's shoulder and he squeezed her hand, promising her without words that he'd never let go.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

She was gone, she was just a kid but he was missing her so much. Katie Sparks had left the lab six months previously and the pain that had opened up with her leaving had just never gone away. Greg missed his little protégée more than anything. He missed the way he mocked her and she didn't understand, he missed the way she made little jokes and didn't even realise she was doing it. He missed the way she did a lot of the work and he could take credit for it.

But she was gone; she was back in England and taking exams and hundreds of miles away. And she was going to be one of the most brilliant minds of her generation but he wouldn't be there to witness it. He'd always known that their time together would be limited but he didn't expect it to end so abruptly. That's what hurt.

He knew there was a saliva sample in front of him that he was meant to be analysing but he couldn't concentrate. He wanted her back to help him with it, he wanted her back to say something that sounded stupid but was probably right. He wanted her back to make him really laugh, but she wasn't coming back. Katie was gone.

He sighed and looked back down at his saliva sample; he tried to tell himself that it was really important and Grissom would be really mad if he didn't do it. He took a deep breath and pulled away from the microscope, rubbing his eyes he sat back. This was important, he knew that. The life of a fourteen year old girl depended on it. The life of a girl the same age as Katie. As he closed his eyes he imagined that it was her; that she'd been taken from them and now it was up to him to find the answers.

"Greg, you got the results for that saliva yet?" It was Grissom. Greg opened his eyes and saw Grissom staring at him, concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry give me a few more minutes…" Greg said slowly, leaning forward back towards his microscope.

"Greg. You're not okay. If you need to talk…?"

"No. I don't want to talk. I'm fine. Just give me a few more minutes. I'm sorry." Greg moved back towards the saliva and examined it before checking the DNA against the girl's sample.

"Yeah, it's like you thought. It's hers." Greg concluded sitting back. None of his usual flair, no funny jokes or witty comments. Just the normality.

"Thank you Greg, and please remember, my door is always open." Grissom said with a nod and left.

Greg sat back in his chair and stared at the only picture he had of him and Katie. Both of them smiling at the camera in their lab.

_Their lab_.

Greg knew that this was his lab. No one else's. Just his. It was his lab and he needed to take control of himself again. Katie wasn't here anymore, she wasn't coming back and she wasn't going to come and help him ever again. She was going to remain in England and be a perfect CSI over there. God knows they were lucky to have her. Even at the age of thirteen she'd been wise beyond her years and brilliant at her job. Greg knew that she would grow up to be a wonderful CSI; he just wished she didn't have to be so far away.

He'd never found out if her father had abused her, they never really spoke about her personal life. As far as he knew she had no friends her own age, just the CSIs. This worried him; she was a little girl attempting to live in an adult's world. She didn't deserve that kind of life, he'd grown up with that kind of life and he remembered hating every minute. He'd hated living a sheltered life, living the life he knew that little girl had right now.

He missed her so much.

…

"Her father came in to check on her before he went to bed, he didn't see her and presumed she was in the bathroom and so just went to bed. Half an hour later her step-mom came in to check on her and didn't see her so knocked on the bathroom door to find it open and then checked the whole house to find she wasn't there." Sara was filing Grissom in on what had been found out about the missing fourteen year old girl so far. "We've checked the perimeter and there is only a partial boot print, nothing that can be easily traced. Catherine and Nick are still in her room, they've found a couple of traces but not a lot else yet."

"Traces of what?" Grissom asked her and she shrugged.

"We're not sure yet, we'll get them to Greg."

They walked through the house and into the living room where the father and step-mother were sat on the couch; she was sobbing and her husband attempting to give her a little comfort although it was obvious that he wished he could cry too. Sara didn't blame them; their fourteen year old daughter was missing. Grissom sat down opposite them and started off with his normal questions.

"We apologise for what you must be going through, we're doing everything we can to help find your daughter. Is there anyone you know who might want to take your daughter?"

"No," the father replied a little too quickly, "Amie is a good girl, she's well behaved and a straight A student. She doesn't argue with anyone, she hates conflict, there would be no way anyone would have anything against her."

"Mrs. Wilde?" Grissom addressed the step-mother who looked up sharply at the mention of her name.

"No… No I don't think Amie really had a quarrel with anyone."

"How did you get on with her? I understand, step-moms and teenage girls aren't always the best of friends?"

"We've always got on great. I treat her like she's my daughter, and I spoil her rotten. She's such a good girl; I don't understand why someone would do this!"

Grissom nodded sympathetically before turning back to the father as his wife began to sob once again.

"Where's her mother? Her biological mother?"

There was a pause before he answered, "She died when Amie was six months old. There were complications after her birth and these complications eventually led to her moms' death. I met and started dating Melissa a year after. Amie grew up knowing Melissa as the closest thing she had to a mother."

Grissom nodded again, "Did her mother have any family?"

"A brother," he nodded, "I can't remember his name we haven't seen or spoken to him in years. Not since Amie's mother's funeral."

Grissom nodded again and stood, "Thank you, we'll be in touch if we have any more questions. But for now, I'm going to go and concentrate on finding your daughter."

"Thank you," the man gave Grissom a watery smile before putting an arm around his wife and holding her close.

Grissom and Sara walked away towards the bedroom where Nick and Catherine were examining the room very closely.

"Do you think Amie's moms' brother did this? As revenge for her moms' death?" Sara asked and Grissom nodded.

"It's a theory. I'm gonna get back to the lab to find out more about this guy, you stay here and help Nick and Catherine."

Sara watched as he left before turning back to Nick and Catherine.

"What you got?" she asked and Catherine turned to her.

"Looks like our fourteen year old goody two shoes, wasn't too good after all. Traces of what look like cocaine on her dresser and empty alcohol bottles in her closet. Looks like she was living a secret real life teenage life."

"Looks like it," Sara agreed. "Anything that can help us find our kidnapper though?"

"As for that, nothing. Not a trace of any fibres."

"Wrong." Nick piped up from the bedside table. "I got a partial." He held up the partial print he'd found.

"I'll take it back to the lab to meet Grissom, I'll also take the sample of that cocaine to check it and the beer bottles and see if there's any other DNA on them. See who she was with. No fourteen year old girl drinks alone in her room."

…

Grissom knew that this case was going to be particularly difficult on the whole team. Everyone had been close to Katie, they'd all grown to love her as one of their own and now a girl the same age and physical type as her had been reported missing. He knew that this could mean the case could go two ways, it could mean they would work harder than ever to find the girl and solve the case faster than any other case they might normally have; or they could completely shut down due to the resemblance to someone so close to them. Of course, Grissom knew that it would hit Greg the hardest, Greg had been the one to spend the most amount of time with her; they had been best friends.

Grissom was finding it hard too, he tried to maintain the case with courteous detachment like he always did, but when Katie had been in Vegas her father had been made to return to England plenty of times and he'd found he'd become a substitute father for her. She'd been a little girl lost in a sea of concrete, he'd looked out for her to help with that.

But this case wasn't about Katie; it was about the missing girl, Amie. He knew everything that was going on. Nick and Warrick were running the partial print, Catherine and Sara were checking out the cocaine traces and Greg was running the DNA from the beer bottles. Grissom was on his way with Brass to talk to Amie's father and step-mother again. He entered the interrogation room and wasn't surprised to find her father sat there, looking a little uncomfortable but still worry-stricken due to the absence of his daughter. He was surprised to find that there was no lawyer present.

"Sir," he said, sitting down opposite him, "Were you aware that your daughter had alcohol bottles in her closet?"

"What?" he seemed surprised, "No? No Amie is a good girl. That's not like her; they can't be hers they must be someone else's."

"We're checking them for DNA now; there were also traces of cocaine found on her dresser."

"I am telling you. Amie is a good girl. Why are you in here interrogating me when you should be out finding my daughter?"

"Sir, it's important we know all the facts to help us to find your daughter."

"You know everything you need to know. Amie is good, those alcohol bottles and the cocaine cannot have been hers. I am telling you that now and I will stand by it no matter what."

. . .

Once you'd put a print through the system, you had to wait. Sometimes it was just a matter of waiting a few minutes before a match was found and you had sufficient evidence to warrant a questioning and maybe even an arrest. But other times, you had to wait ages. This was a time in which Nick and Warrick had to wait a fairly long time. They had decided that the most efficient way to pass the time whilst waiting would be to play rock, paper scissors.

That idea ran dry pretty quickly and so they began to improvise new games until they grew bored of those, only then, did it occur to them to start thinking about analysing the case.

"My moneys on the uncle." Warrick said, leaning back in his chair but Nick shook his head slowly.

"I don't know man, you didn't see the dad at the crime scene. He was pretty shifty. I think he's definitely got something to do with it." Nick responded and Warrick looked thoughtful.

"Yeah, maybe they're working together?"

"Maybe, well we'll find out when this print finally comes through." Nick said, raising his voice slightly and glaring at the computer in the hope that this might make the process be hurried along a little faster.

"How do you think Greg's holding up?" Warrick said, changing the subject and lowering his voice substantially as if worried he might be overheard.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, a fourteen year old girl is missing. Katie?"

"Oh yeah… I don't know, I reckon he'll be pretty upset. But that's probably just because he probably misses Katie loads."

"Don't we all?"

"Yeah, maybe she'll come back to visit one day?"

"Yeah, and she'll be a world famous CSI by then you know that!"

"She'll be a famous CSI by the time she's sixteen I can guarantee that."

The computer gave a bleep and both men leaned forward eagerly, glad that it was finally done. And their suspicions were confirmed when the name of Amie's uncle flashed across the screen. He was definitely a prime suspect in the case of his missing niece. But there was always the question; did she know who he was?

. . .

"So you think we can get DNA off of this trace amount of cocaine?" Sara asked Catherine who nodded quickly. She was bent over the trace amount working carefully whilst Sara stood back and allowed her to continue, just watching. "How?"

"When a person takes cocaine, they sniff it right?" Catherine said and Sara nodded slowly, keeping up and trying to suss it through in her own head. "Well, most of the time they sniff out again a little bit, and when they do, they sniff out our little friends, mucus." She said and Sara got it.

"Their boogers will be mixed with the cocaine."

"You got it!"

"But how do we separate them."

"We isolate the cocaine from any other substances, then we sift it away, which should leave us with the DNA."

"And we can do that with trace amounts of cocaine?"

"As long as we're really careful, we have one shot. We mess it up once and we've lost the DNA and the trace evidence. That would be a field day for a jury, it would never hold up in court."

"I can imagine. Hey, Cath?"

"Yeah?"

"What if it does come back to the girl? A teenager taking cocaine and drinking? I don't know, it just doesn't seem right."

"Teenagers do it all the time."

"No, I mean, you were in the house too right? That place was covered in certificates and trophies for her. You couldn't see her desk there was so much study material on it… something just doesn't feel right."

"We can't make predictions without all the evidence. Maybe she had a friend or a boyfriend who convinced her to walk on the wild side just once."

"Or an uncle…"

"Or an uncle."

Catherine worked in silence for a few minutes before resurfacing from her work with a grin on her face.

"Got it." She smiled, holding up their new evidence. DNA.

. . .

Greg really didn't want to do this. He didn't even want to think about the possibility of a fourteen year old girl taking cocaine or drinking when he knew that could endanger her life. He knew that it could endanger any fourteen year old girl's life. Katie's life.

He didn't like the idea that this kid was the same age as his Katie and she was not only missing, but he also have to test for her DNA on beer bottles. He worked quickly, it was pretty simple; he'd done the procedure a hundred times before. It didn't take long for the DNA to be collected, and analysed. It was the waiting for the DNA to be identified that was hard. All he could do was sit there, and when he just had to sit there and wait, his mind could take over and play a hundred scenarios over. The one thing he wouldn't be able to bear was if they found the girl dead. He would only be able to picture her as Katie, he was doing that already, imagining it was Katie who'd been taken.

It felt like it was, it felt like she'd been cruelly taken away from him right when they'd just become the closest friends possible. He wanted her back; he wanted her back in his lab to make him smile and laugh. Not even to necessarily do his work for him, just to be there. He just wanted her to come back to visit, not even stay, just to talk to her again. He'd always found it annoying when she'd been smarter than him about something. He'd always acted annoyed, he'd even sulked against her for a few days sometimes, but they'd always made up. And secretly, he'd been glad she was smart because she'd often give him a lot of the credit. He knew it didn't often deserve it but he appreciated the gesture she made all the same.

The printer bleeped and he pulled out the paper, his eyes widened in shock as he saw the results. One female contributor, one male. But if it had been the girl and her uncle some of the alleles would have been common, these alleles had nothing in common; it was two unrelated contributors. He paged Grissom and tried to make sense of the information in front of him. But he well and truly couldn't. There was no possible explanation that Greg could think of, but then again, his judgement was pretty clouded lately.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

He hated waiting for the results to come through, it annoyed him. He was alright when he had the work to distract him but when he had to wait he noticed her absence even more than normal. He was re-testing the female DNA found in comparison to Amie's step-mothers on Grissom's orders. Greg didn't know how to think about this, if it came back as positive then it meant that a fourteen year old girl's step-mom had been drinking beer with her step-daughters uncle, in the step-daughters room. It all seemed too complicated, too much to be true. But it wasn't Greg's job to put the evidence together to solve the case; it was just his job to provide the evidence.

The printer bleeped and he pulled out the paper as he had done a hundred times before and examined it. Sure enough, the DNA belonged to the step-mother which confirmed she was in her step-daughters, in Amie's, room with her uncle.

"Hey Greg," it was Sara, Greg liked Sara, Sara always got him. Was always there to talk to if he needed someone to talk to seriously, this made him comfortable.

"Hi Sara, results just came back, your suspicions were right, DNA came from her step-mom. I would recommend you check their sheets."

"That's disgusting."

"I know… Sleeping with your step-daughters uncle in her bed. How could someone do something like that? It's got to be bordering on abuse."

"Not just that, more the fact that she was trying to pin all the drugs and the alcohol on a fourteen year old girl. Like she was trying to ruin her reputation for being a goody two shoes, like she was trying to deliberately ruin her life. At least it puts step-mom at the top bill of suspect number one. If Amie found out about her little meetings with the uncle then maybe they conspired together to shut Amie up. Keep her out of the way? What kind of a family does that?"

"Yeah, well, some people are just like that." Greg said, turning around to more work and ending the conversation.

"Greg, how are you?" Sara asked quietly and she saw him visibly stiffen but he kept his back to her, she didn't budge though, she was determined to be relentless.

"I'm fine." He lied, he knew what she was referring to but didn't feel ready to talk about Katie, not yet.

"No you're not. If the rest of us aren't fine by all this then you've got to be worse. You know you can talk to me? Or any of us, we all care Greg. We're all here for you." Sara said reassuringly, she considered placing a comforting hand on his shoulder but decided against it with the fear of his reaction.

"Yeah…" he said slowly and turned back to her, "I really miss her Sara. It's weird, you know? Not having her here, just to be here even. I really want her back, just for the sake of having her here. And now, this case, it is hard. I know it's hard on all you guys but I keep imagining it's her." he sighed, "Do you think she'll ever come back?"

"Greg, she was always only here temporarily." Sara replied quietly.

"I know… But when she's a proper CSI she might come back, right?" he asked hopefully and Sara shrugged.

"I hope so Greg, I really hope so."

…

"Do you want to tell us how your DNA got on the beer bottles we found in Amie's room?" Catherine asked Alison, Amie's step-mother. Catherine knew that Nick and Warrick were examining Amie's sheets more closely at this moment and she dreaded what they might find. Sara was with Amie's father, David, and Grissom was interviewing the uncle, Ryan.

Alison paused before replying, looking worried but she hadn't asked for a lawyer yet.

"Sometimes, Amie would ask me to join her for a beer; it's not that hard to understand. A fourteen year old girl wants to experiment and she trusted me to take care of her and make sure she didn't get too out of hand. I just wanted to ensure she was safe." Alison replied quietly, her eyes darted around the room nervously.

"You see, that's not quite true is it? Because we didn't find any of Amie's DNA on any of the beer bottles, we only found yours, and her uncle's, Ryan." Catherine said, raising an eyebrow. "Were you having an affair?"

Alison paused again, "You know, you can try and pin anything you want on me. But David will never believe you. He loves me, and I love him. And I love Amie too, you need to stop interrogating me and go out there to find her." Alison replied quickly, her eyes choosing a spot to rest on the table between them. Her tone raised in pitch ever so slightly and Catherine detected guilt.

"You're avoiding my question," Catherine said, raising her own voice slightly, "And I am trying to find Amie, I think you had something to do with her disappearance so why don't you cut all the crap and tell me what I want to know?"

Alison glared at her and took her time in replying, she seemed to love her dramatic pauses. "Fine. Yes, I was having an affair with Ryan, but we always changed the sheets of the bed we had sex in. And I did not have anything to do with Amie's disappearance, you have to believe me."

"Right now, I just believe the evidence. So, what? You and Ryan had a few beers in Amie's room, did some cocaine and then what? Things got heated, you were in the middle of having sex and Amie walked in so you decided you needed to dispose of the evidence, of her? Or her father walked in and caught you, so to keep him quiet you take his daughter?"

"Stop." Alison said firmly and cast her eyes down to the table between them. Catherine leant forward and looked at her pleadingly.

"Please, just tell me what happened so we can find that girl."

Alison looked up at her and spoke with her mouth in a grim, hard-set line, "I want a lawyer."

. . .

"She wasn't giving anything up." Catherine informed the others at the table around her. They were all sat in the break room with their papers in front of them. They had two hours left before it was statistically likely that Amie was dead. "She told me that she and the uncle were having an affair but that's it."

"Exactly the same here," Grissom replied, "He admitted to the sex, the beer and the drugs, but nothing else."

"So we're at a bit of a loose end?" Nick asked them all and they gave him a shrug in response.

"Greg's running the DNA we found on the sheets now. We found some flakes of skin from someone who suffers from eczema, but I assume they just came from the uncle or the step-mom." Warrick said, looking down and suddenly, Catherine was confused.

"If a person has eczema they have medication for it." She said, she remembered Lindsey having cream to put on itchy skin, "They searched the uncle's house and there was no eczema cream there."

"The step-mom then?"

"No, I personally checked her cabinet in the bathroom and there was no cream in there." Catherine said shaking her head.

"So who had the flaky skin?" Sara asked them.

"Amie?" Grissom suggested and Nick shook his head.

"Nope, I checked out her bathroom and there were no creams in there except acne creams. Apparently she had great skin."

"I think I know…" Greg announced stood in the doorway and looking grim as he held up the results of Nick and Warrick's findings. "And it's really not what you think."

…

"We found your skin cells on Amie's sheets. We also looked closer and found evidence of semen and vaginal fluid. Yours and Amie's." Grissom pushed the evidence closer so that David, Amie's father, and his lawyer could see it clearly. He was sickened that a father could do this to his own daughter. He had kept himself firmly detached in this case, stopping himself from thinking of this girl as Katie as he knew everyone else had been doing, everyone had been relating her to Katie and it made it harder for them. But now he couldn't stop himself, he imagined this poor girl was Katie, she'd been abused by her own father and it truly sickened him. "What happened?"

The guilty party opened his mouth and closed it again, thinking about what he was about to say. To Grissom this was a complete admission of guilt and raised an eyebrow at him. He repeated his question, this time a little more harshly and David cast his eyes down at the table before leaning forward and putting his hands flat on the table, staring up into Grissom's face.

"I never meant to hurt anyone…" he said softly.

"Right now, your daughters been hurt and we want to help her. Help us help her." Grissom said firmly.

"I only ever had sex with my daughter because she asked. I came into her room that night and she was crying. Something about another kid at school being harsh on her or something, I sat down on her bed beside her and started comforting her. She kissed me, like really kissed me and then things got out of hand. I tried to stop it but she said she wanted it, and God she looked so much like her mom. I don't know what I was thinking, it was stupid. Anyway, her uncle walked in, I knew about the affair he was having with Alison but she wasn't in and he caught me and Amie. I don't know where she is. He was really angry, I thought he was gonna kill me. He took her away, said he would keep her safe." David told his story in a rush with tears spilling down his cheeks.

"I'm starting to think he was right." Grissom said coldly before standing and walking out without another word.

He walked right through to the interrogation room where Amie's uncle was being held and he walked in quickly but not as aggressively. He was fuming with anger at what he'd learned but he knew that Amie's uncle was protecting her, that he loved her.

"Where is she?" he asked him and he looked up, bewildered.

"I've already said I don't know."

"Listen, we know what you caught Amie's father doing to her. If you tell us where she is then she'll probably be taken in by social services for a couple of months and then you can apply for her custody and she can come and live with you. You can protect her until she's old enough to protect herself. Just tell us where she is and I promise she'll be safe." Grissom said comfortingly. Ryan looked up at him with wide eyes and he looked like he was trying very hard not to cry. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair before answering.

"She's fine. I have an apartment on the other side of town; she's been living there for the past couple of days. She was pretty upset about me taking her away but I explained it all to her, how her dad was abusing her by doing that and how he'd violated her and she came around. She's okay. There's food there, water, TV. I even bought her some treats, some candy bars and stuff like that to make her feel better. I just couldn't bear to see that animal hurting her anymore; she's all I have left of my sister. She deserves to be treated like royalty, not like this." Grissom nodded and Ryan looked at the table. "Am I going to jail?" he asked softly and Grissom noted that he, probably the least guilty of the three, was the only one without a lawyer.

"Not if I can help it."

…

Greg was hovering outside Grissom's office, he was hoping to catch him and talk to him. He'd decided it would be a good idea to take Sara's advice and talk to Grissom about Katie. Grissom was sat at his desk and was aware that Greg was lingering outside but was evidently too anxious to come inside and talk to him.

"Come in Greg!" Grissom called, he had a pretty good idea what this was about and he did want to talk to Greg, he knew he missed Katie a lot. Greg peeked around the door before the rest of his body followed. He walked in and sat down quickly, he cocked his head to one side and took a deep breath; he wasn't sure how to start so Grissom started for him.

"You're missing Katie? It's affecting your work and the way that little girl was treated made you think of it as Katie being mistreated." Grissom concluded for him and Greg paused a moment before nodding.

"Pretty much." Greg nodded, "I don't know why I'm missing her so much. Or why it's affecting me so bad, but it is."

"It's because she made a big impact on your life. I know her dad doesn't let her email and she can rarely use the phone, but you could write to her? Talk to her and see if she can come visit any time soon. I think we'd all like to see her." Grissom said with a gentle smile and nodded towards the door, Greg was amazed, he was feeling better already. He stood up and walked towards the door but Grissom called after him, "Greg!" he shouted and Greg turned around. Grissom held out an envelope towards him, "Actually this is for you." He said with a smile, Greg waited until he was back in his lab before even daring to look at the envelope.

He recognised Katie's neat handwriting and smiled to himself; he pulled open the envelope and looked down at the letter.

_Dear Greg,_

_I miss you so much! It's terrible being back in England, exams are boring and revision is difficult when I don't have a partner like you to test me! I miss all the cases we used to get; I hope you're not enjoying them too much without me. Remember when we used to complain about the weather in Vegas? Well you don't know what you've got; wait until you come over here, the weather is terrible! You must come over to visit; I might die of boredom if you don't._

_Speaking of visits I'm trying to convince daddy to let me come back to visit everybody at the lab once my exams are finished but he's being pretty stern and saying no. although by the time everything's done, I'll have completed all my relevant exams and hopefully even completed all my training to be a CSI! You'd better have got yours too and be ready to be out in the field because I don't want to be out there alone! Anyway, I should be nearly twenty by then and then daddy can't stop me. I hope you can wait that long and don't get too bored without me. _

_Please write back and keep speaking to me, I hope that daddy plans another trip over to Vegas so that I can come and see you, but until then please don't lose touch. I'll see you soon Greg._

_Love Katie _

_Xxx_

Greg read over the letter many times and grinned to himself, he missed her too, so much. But she would come back, he was sure she could come back before she was twenty. Still grinning, he grabbed the first pen and paper he could find and began scribbling his reply.


	7. Chapter 7

**The following few chapters are set nearer the end of season 2 time.**

**Chapter 7**

The music blasted from Greg's lab and Grissom rolled his eyes, he pretended to dislike the music Greg played but he knew it helped the technician concentrate and so he allowed it. If he didn't allow him to concentrate then he wouldn't get the brilliant results he normally achieved. He knew that Greg wanted to be a part of the team more, he knew that he wanted to be more than just a lab tech and he wanted to investigate crime scenes and solve crimes but to achieve that he needed to learn that sometimes, music was just too loud.

Grissom pushed through the glass doors and into Greg's lab and glared at him for a moment, hoping he would look up from his magazine and stop banging his head in that ridiculous way just long enough to see him and get the hint it was time to turn his music down just a little. When Greg failed to look up Grissom cleared his throat, much louder than was strictly necessary. Greg didn't even look up then and so Grissom knew it was time to take this to the next level. He walked into the lab and over to the cassette player on the bench next to where Greg was sat and pushed the pause button on the tape. Greg stopped immediately, alarmed, and looked up to hurl abuse at whoever had stopped his enjoyment. When he saw it was Grissom he shut his mouth immediately.

"Got no work to do Greg?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. He knew it had been a slow night on night shift but he didn't realise that Ecklie's team on day shift had been just as slow, surely Greg should have something to do.

"Nope." Greg said, throwing down his magazine and sitting forward in his chair, "I had a DNA map to do for Ecklie and I paged him to come pick it up but he hasn't shown yet."

"When did you page him?"

"About an hour ago."

"Yeah he's not coming until the morning now, do you know what time it is?"

Greg glanced at his watch and his cocky smirk faltered, "Half eleven, you know, sometimes working both days and nights gets me confused with the times. I wouldn't have that problem if you let me have more field training to be a C.S.I, then I'd just be working nights."

"Trust me Greg, you'd still get confused." Grissom said and Greg looked momentarily confused and then hurt, "Come on." Grissom said with a sigh, "I'm sure I can find some work for you."

Greg followed Grissom from the lab and through the corridors into Grissom's office. Grissom rifled through the papers and files on his desk for a moment before his phone rang and he was made to stop. He picked up the phone and Greg watched as he listened, he only spoke a couple of times giving yes and no answers before the line evidently went dead and he lowered the phone, a grave look etched into his features.

"Something wrong?" Greg asked uncertainly and Grissom nodded dramatically.

"Sara's being held hostage."

"Hostage?" Greg asked uncertainly, worried for his friend's safety, worried for Grissom's sanity. "Are you sure?"

Grissom didn't look at him, he stared at the floor grimly, and Greg had never seen him like this. It scared him to see his mentor so angry, so worried. He wanted to comfort him but he didn't know how.

"I'm pretty sure Greg." He said sharply, sharper than he'd intended to and his eyes immediately softened and he raised them to look at the younger man. "Do me a favour?" he asked gently and Greg knew he didn't need to give an apology. Sara was more important at the moment. So Greg nodded, he would do anything to help. "Get everyone together in the break room, I'll brief everyone together. You're her friend. I want you there too."

Greg didn't waste time feeling excited to be on a case at last, he was too worried about Sara. He felt a bit sick, part of him wanted to cry and part of him wanted to sleep and wake up and it would all be okay. But he knew he couldn't do any of those things, he had to help find Sara.

It was times like these he missed Katie the most, he wished that she were here to comfort him. But then again she probably wouldn't. She would tell him to pull himself together, be a man and get on with it. Find Sara and bring her home safely. Sometimes he wished she was there so much that he could see her. He could see her now, stood in the doorway to his lab as he walked past, she lifted a hand and waved with a smirk on her face. She never usually smirked, or waved, she normally just stood there. Greg stopped and looked around to check no one was about or at least watching him before he edged closer to her. Inspecting her, he concluded that she had to actually be there. She watched him with idle curiosity and bemusement, waiting for him to comment on her apparently solid physical structure.

"_Hello Greg." _ She said, her voice was echoed and eerie like a ghost in a dream and it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up but she was there, sort of. He wondered how, and why.

"_I'm here to help you find Sara." _She replied to his unspoken thought and he nodded slowly. She had to be a figment of his own mind, and what harm could it bring to have a hallucination of his best friend wandering around with him?

…

Once Greg had left to find everyone else Grissom leaned against his desk for a few moments trying to collect his thoughts and tryng to think logically about the situation. They dealt with kidnappings in their department so why couldn't they deal with this one just like any other? They would cope with it, they could. His team were strong and whilst they might worry for Sara they would be able to manage. It would only drive them to work faster and harder. Reassuring himself with this knowledge he stood up straight and walked around the desk and out the door towards the break room. He knew that Greg wouldn't have been able to find everyone by now but he wanted to be alone for a while to work out what he was going to say to everyone, how he was going to explain what had happened to Sara and how they would deal with it.

As he guessed, the break room was empty. He took a seat and closed his eyes, resting his forehead in his hands and trying to work out how exactly he would tell his team that one of their own was their next victim. He replayed the conversation he'd had with the kidnapper over and over again in his head, desperate to remember every single detail.

…

"_Aren't you meant to be collecting the team?" _ Katie asked Greg, raising her eyebrow. The real Katie would never have had the guts to talk to him like that. In a way he preferred this Katie, she was more fun more challenging and she'd said three sentences to him.

"Yes!" he replied quickly, and she motioned toward the corridor. He gave her a strange look for a moment before moving slowly away from her and starting to walk down the corridor in search of his colleagues. She ran behind to catch up to him before slowing to a cool saunter beside him, she was taller than he remembered; he guessed it was just his mind playing tricks.

"_It's not like you to be this quiet. I get that Sara's been kidnapped but are you not even going to tell me how much you're missing me? I know you are."_

"That's because you're in my head."

"_That's true. But I'm very lifelike for a hallucination aren't I?"_

"Yeah, that's what creeps me out…"

She laughed and Greg remembered how much he missed her laugh. How much he missed everything about her.

"You know it's a bit inappropriate to be laughing? One of our best friend's is missing!" Greg said to what appeared to be thin air, causing a lab tech to give him a worried look before resuming her work. Greg smiled reassuringly at her.

"_You know you look crazy. Maybe you should pretend to be talking into your phone or something? Sorry about the laughing, I'm in your head though so it's technically your fault." _

He glared at her and she shrugged back.

"_It's true!" _

"Doesn't mean you can get away with it." He muttered so only she could hear.

Katie remained quiet whilst Greg found the rest of the team and phoned the members who were out on a case. They got back to the lab pretty quick and it wasn't long before they were congregating in the break room. Grissom, who was already in there, looked pale with worry and Greg felt a pang of sickness again. Having Katie beside him again comforted him a little, even if the others couldn't see her. But they had no hallucinations to comfort them. At least he didn't think they did. He stood in the corner, out of the way with Katie close by his side. The others mainly blocked his view of Grissom but he could still hear fine which was all that really mattered. Beside him, Katie stood on her tiptoes, desperate to get a good look and Greg inwardly rolled his eyes. Hallucination Katie was so different to real Katie, yet he kind of liked her just as much.

Grissom ran through the basics with them, Sara had been taken; they were going to receive another call telling them how much they needed to raise for ransom money and then eventually how and where to make the drop. Grissom looked around at his team, they were worried yet determined. Just how he liked them, he knew they wouldn't fail him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Greg sat idly in his lab; he wasn't sure what he could do to help. There wasn't really anything he could do to help. The others were doing their thing, trying to find Sara, trying to convince the department to donate money to save her, trying to trace phone calls. He could only sit there and wait for the evidence to come to him. He didn't want to be here, he wanted to be out there amongst the action, he wanted to be finding the evidence and sending it to someone else who could be bored and worried in the lab with nothing to do. Instead it was him.

Katie sat opposite him, her head tilted as she observed him. She was bored too, although she showed it a lot more than Greg did, she was allowed to no one else could see her. Greg had worry to occupy him whereas Katie had nothing because she technically wasn't anything. She was technically just a shadow, a ghost.

"Are you a ghost?" Greg asked suddenly, keeping his voice low in case someone came in without him hearing so he didn't sound ridiculous like he was talking to himself. She tilted her head further and furrowed her brow.

"_Since when is Katie dead?" _she asked, sounding a little offended and Greg looked down, embarrassed.

"Right, sorry…" he mumbled.

"_Besides if I were a ghost I would be able to move stuff but I can't."_

"You could?" he asked, looking back up, intrigued.

"_Of course I could! Haven't you seen the film?"_

"Well yes, I obviously have otherwise you wouldn't be talking about it right now would you?"

"_That's true. But what do you remember from the film? I swear Patrick Swayze couldn't move anything?" _

"Yeah but then he got really determined because his best friend was hitting on his girlfriend so he managed to hit a photograph or something."

"_Wow, you really have seen the film. I did not have you down as a chick flick kind of guy."_

"Have you seen it?"

"_What? How can you ask me that? I am you, remember?"_

"Oh yeah… I keep forgetting you're not actually real Katie."

"_You really miss her don't you? Or miss me or… Whatever."_

"Yeah… I do miss her, you, loads."

"_Why don't you just call her? Me?"_

"Let's refer to her as you since you're here."

"_Thank you. Anyway, why don't you just call me then? Ask me to come visit, you never know I might make up some crazy excuse to my parents to come back and then you'll never get rid of me!"_

"Well considering you're appearing because you're in my head I think I already can't get rid of you."

"_I meant real me."_

"I know what you meant; I just made a joke…"

"_It wasn't very funny."_

"I got that from the fact that you didn't laugh."

"Greg who are you talking to?" Grissom's voice asked from behind him, worried. Greg held up his phone which he'd taken to keeping nearby as he turned before holding it up to his ear as if he was finishing his conversation.

"Yeah… Yeah I'll keep you updated…. Thanks for the support mom. Bye." He pretended to hang up then placed the phone down. "Sorry," he said to Grissom, "I guess I just needed to talk to someone."

"It's okay… I've decided I want you out on this one. I want everyone on it, so we have a better chance of finding Sara more quickly. So come on, you shadow me."

"Okay…" Greg said slowly and Katie raised an impressed eyebrow from behind Grissom's back. "Thanks." Greg said, standing up slowly and following Grissom. He glanced at Katie before he left, she held up her left hand to her ear in a signal mouthing the words 'call me' and Greg fought a smile as Katie faded from view.

He hated to admit it but perhaps dream Katie was right, maybe he did just need to call real Katie. Knowing her even just hearing his voice would make her happy, and hearing her voice would make him just as happy. But until they'd found Sara, dream Katie would have to do.

…

Greg followed Grissom around as he did his work. He did whatever errand Grissom needed him to do and didn't ask any stupid questions. He allowed himself a short moment in order to feel proud of himself, if he continued the way he was going then he would be a full throttle C.S.I in no time.

Then the telephone rang.

Grissom paused for a moment, once again it was only him and Greg in his office and they both knew what was coming. This would be information about Sara, they could feel it. Grissom picked up the phone and held it to his ear, licked his lips, and spoke.

"Hello?" he said in a small voice.

"Five hundred thousand, twenty four hours, don't screw up." The voice on the other end was distorted and deep but went high at the end of the sentence. The vocals were clearly manipulated in order to disguise the kidnapper's identity.

The phone went dead before Grissom could even try and say anything else.

Grissom put it back in the cradle and looked up to Greg was stood anxiously, waiting for the news about Sara.

"What is it? What's going on?" He asked with a shaking voice.

"We need five hundred thousand dollars in twenty four hours." Grissom told him bluntly and Greg nodded slowly.

"How are we gonna do that? The department refuse to fund any negotiation with kidnappers…"

"I know… So we bluff them." Grissom said in a matter of fact tone. He seemed more determined, sure that his plan would work.

"What if we bluff them and they hurt Sara, or…" he couldn't finish the sentence.

"Then we make sure we're two steps ahead of them, we make sure we get Sara first and we get her out." Grissom told him.

"You sure that's gonna work?"

"Yes. So long as we have a plan and we stick to it. Come on Greg, you want to be a C.S.I you've got to but just as clever. So think. How do we do it?"

Greg paused, thought for a moment before responding.

"We use someone they won't expect."

Grissom gave him a ghost of a smile, "Good. That person," Greg didn't like the way he was looking at him. "That person is going to be you."

…

"_By using someone that they won't expect it'll throw them off track. It will mean they'll show you Sara in order to feel like they definitely have the upper hand, it's their way of comforting themselves. You don't need to worry, you're gonna be completely safe, Grissom won't let anything happen to you, you know that." _DreamKatie said as they walked down a corridor. Greg was worried about being so responsible for Sara's safety. He was so scared that he would be the one to mess it all up and Sara would be harmed because of him.

He glanced at her, his figment of imagination there to comfort him. Her face was a bit fuzzy but she was smiling at him soothingly.

"_It'll be okay Greg," _she said quietly, _"I'll be there with you the whole time."_

"Of course you will, you're in my head." He said lightly, trying to keep positive whilst ignoring the strange looks he was getting for apparently talking to himself.

She smiled widely at him and took his hand. It was strange, he could feel her like she was actually there, holding his hand and walking with him towards the elevator. He observed her, she was older than she had been when she'd left; he could see her growing into a young woman from the child who had left him behind.

Her hair was longer and darker, she was wearing it down so it tumbled down her back and around her shoulders. Her eyes were harder, she'd seen and experienced more of her life. Her cheekbones were more prominent and her childhood flab had all but gone, she was taller and more shaped. She wasn't a child anymore that was certain.

He squeezed her hand as they neared the elevator before he let go and stepped inside. She stood opposite him, looking at him with detached curiosity. He wished he could see the world through her eyes. Not dream eyes, but real eyes. He'd never wanted real Katie there with him more than in that moment.

The elevator reached the bottom floor and he took a deep breath before stepping out. Katie beside him step for step. Just his imagination creating the sound of her steps echoing off the cavernous parking lot comforted him. He didn't care if he was going crazy, it meant she was here with him, however fake or not. Grissom was waiting for him by a car, Katie moved around to stand next to Grissom, smiling comfortingly at Greg. He looked between them nervously, unsure where to look.

He knew that he needed to keep his gaze away from Katie in order to not look crazy but seeing her stood there, almost as tall as Grissom, was the only thing keeping him from going crazy. Unable to keep himself from looking at her, he resigned himself to staring down at her feet.

"Ready Greg?" his mentor asked. Not trusting his voice not to betray him he nodded looking up so to not be impolite. He was as ready as he would ever be. He could see the fake bag of money in the back seat and it only succeeded in worrying him more. If this all went wrong, it was all his fault.

The two men got into the car, Katie perched in the back seat just so Greg could see her reflection in the wing mirror. Grissom started to go through the plan as they drove, and whilst he really didn't want to, Greg forced himself to listen and pay attention. He got one detail wrong and it would all go to shreds.

"Right Greg, pay attention, here's what you're going to do. I'm going to drop you off two blocks away. You walk to the drop off point, Nick, Catherine, Warwick and I will be close don't worry. You go in, show him the bag, do not open it just show him. Demand to see Sara immediately, be brave Greg, be controlling, and don't be afraid. Be demanding, if he doesn't have Sara then demand to know where she is. If he refuses, ever, then you threaten to walk away, even start walking. There's a tracking device sewn into the lining of the bag. When you give him the bag make sure it isn't obvious. You'll be fine."

Greg nodded again, his face was pale and his eyes were wide as he stared out of the window and at the pretend reflection of his best friend. Katie smiled at him, offering him a little comfort.

"What happens if I mess up?" Greg asked in a small voice, unable to stop himself. Grissom glanced at him sympathetically, like he was regretting asking this massive favour of him, but it was truly the best way to go.

"You won't mess up." Grissom tried but Greg shook his head, fear beginning to set in so Katie blurred behind him.

"But what if I do?" Greg asked in a louder voice, closing his eyes. He immediately regretted blocking out every little thing, even Katie. Now he didn't want to open them again because he was scared she would no longer be there.

"You won't." Grissom repeated sternly. Greg knew he believed in him but it didn't make any of it any easier. He wanted to make Grissom proud, he just wasn't sure he could do it. "Greg, you have to take a deep breath and be brave and trust me. You're the right man for this, you can get us Sara back."

At the mention of Sara's name Greg's eyes opened and he remembered why he was doing his. He needed to get his friend back.

"_It's Sara. She's like me. She's your friend, you need to bring her home Greg." _Katie whispered into his ear from some far off land. The imaginary Knight giving him courage and hope.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

They arrived at the drop off point far too quickly, the walk didn't go on for long enough and soon Greg was having trouble to find the strength to lift his hand and open the door to a grimy cottage on the edge of a suburb. The desert stretched out immediately from this place from the left of him and endlessly stretched out for miles. He knew the others were close but it didn't comfort him any further.

"_Come on Greg, you can do it." _He knew that she was just in his head, but Katie's echoing voice from somewhere behind his right ear gave him strength. _"Sara is in there, you have to bring her home. Remember when you used to have an enormous crush on her? Well, let's not lie, you still do. But you always used to tell me that one day you'd be her knight in shining armour. I see now you were being quite patronising considering my age but it was romantic. Find that romance, be her knight. Bring her home."_

Somehow her voice alone gave him the courage to lift his hand and turn the door handle. He found it unlocked and he let himself into the grimy cottage. When he entered, Katie was already stood on the other side of the room. Watching him with hardened but encouraging eyes. He knew that she belonged here, with him. She didn't belong anywhere else and he vowed to bring her back to being with them, her real family, just as soon as it was all over.

"You the police?" a small man with a goatee said from the back room and Greg knew Sara was in there.

"Yes. I'm here to make the switch." He found his voice was confident, he wasn't shaking. He was brave. He glanced at Dream Katie and she nodded. Feeling more confident, more sure of himself, he strode through to the back room.

He was unprepared for what he came to see. Sara was stood in front of three men, she held her gun in her hand and it was trained on Greg. Both the friends' eyes widened as they saw each other and Sara's arm wavered as she threatened to drop the gun but one of the men made a tutting sound and she trained it on him again.

"Who are you?" one of the men asked, stepping up just behind Sarah and glaring at Greg with a hint of curiosity in his eyes. "You're definitely with the police? You don't look like you're one of them."

Greg swallowed nervously and tried to appear much more confident than he felt.

"Yes." He replied and took pride in the way his voice didn't betray him at all.

"Good." The man replied and Greg swallowed his fear once again. Katie was far behind him, back in the land of dreams. Now he needed to focus on reality, on Sara. Her gun wavered and one of the men stepped up to join his friend, pressing the barrel of his gun into the small of Sara's back. Her eyes closed as she tried to fight back her own fear.

"Now we want this all to go to plan." The third and final man stepped up to join his friends and Sara. Greg had to fight back a laugh as the absurd idea that they looked like they could belong in some kind of pop group appeared in his head. "We don't want any problems whatsoever."

"I agree." Greg said and held up the bag of money. "The police aren't supposed to negotiate with kidnappers so we put all this together out of our personal bank accounts. It's all there." He explained as Grissom had told him to. He couldn't decide it if was nerves or confidence growing inside of him every moment he spent in this room. But something was definitely starting to show itself through a tick in his right hand.

First, the man stood to the right of Sara noticed it and the other two caught on quickly. They each shared a glance and the ring leader smiled. They knew that whilst there was something there they had complete control.

"Excellent." The ring leader grinned. He was a large man with long hair that fell down to his waist in greasy sheets. He had the goatee stood next to him. "So what we're going to do, is we're going to take the money from you. And then this lovely lady right here is going to walk your skinny ass out of here with the gun still on you. And then we'll decide where it goes from there."

Greg nodded, he knew there wasn't any other option other than to go along with their idea of a plan; if he did anything wrong then they would hurt him or Sara. So he threw the bag to the ring leader who caught it neatly and checked inside. He nodded to his friends and the butt of the man's gun jarred into Sara's back forcefully in one sharp hit. She cried out in pain and fell to the floor. Greg darted forward instinctively and ran to her.

He didn't see the sadistic look in the man's eye. Nor did he pay much attention to the gun trained on Sara with the finger crooked into the trigger. He simply dived into the situation, grabbed Sara's arm and pulled her up and behind him in one swift movement. As they stood and began to back towards the door, the gun fired.

Greg barrelled backwards through the door, taking Sara with him and they landed in a heap in the next room as the three men swore at one another and grabbed the money. Greg could only listen in shock as they ran from the house.

He lay on his back and tried to regulate his breathing again. There was a dull ache in his head and his shoulder. But Sara lay beside him and she appeared unharmed.

"Greg?" she whispered and he turned his head to the left to look at her. As he did his chin connected with something warm and slippery. He brought his right hand up to his chin and then look at his bloodied fingers. He managed to position his head so he could see his shoulder, see the blood rushing from the bullet wound. As he saw it, it became even more real and the pain intensified in a hot blast from an ache to a searing heat in less than a millisecond. He cried out and suddenly Sara's hands were there, pressing onto the wound and only intensifying the pain so he cried out again.

"I'm sorry Greg!" she cried in return, but Greg understood why she had to do it.

"Sara? Greg?" Grissom's voice came from another room.

"We're in here!" Sara called back. "We need a medic!"

Grissom ran through and knelt beside Greg who looked up at him with strained eyes.

"Did you get them?" he asked and Grissom put a comforting hand on his unharmed shoulder.

"Yeah Greg, we got them." He smiled. Overcome with pain and relief, Greg allowed himself to black out.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The persistent beeping blared from an echo into a steady beat that was both annoying and comforting at the same time. Greg knew what it was and he knew that he should be happy about the fact that the beeping was the way his heart was beeping, he was alive, but it was lie an alarm clock went off in the morning. He was happy it was going off because it meant he was alive and well, but at the same time he didn't want to wake up, he was willing and ready to sleep for just a little while longer.

He groaned inwardly, not daring to do so audibly for fear that there was someone else in the hospital room with him and they might judge him in the way he groaned. Sometimes he found his own paranoia hilarious, what kind of a person judged someone else on what kind of a groan they had after being shot?

Slowly, he opened his eyes and wished he hadn't. The hospital lights were white and bright and he was reminded of just how much he hated them. This was meant to be a place for healing sick people and yet apparently the institution seemed to want to blind them by simulating the sun. he noted he was in a particularly snarky mood when he's just woken up considering he'd just done something hugely brave and heroic in jumping in front of a loaded gun with the intent of saving Sara…

Sara.

He forced his eyes open wider and looked around the room. He was in a room with someone else who was asleep on their own with no one else around and his heart sank as he thought the team must have left to go and solve a case and they would come back when it was actually visiting hours. With a stab of hurt he knew that if it had been Sara they all would be there then.

"Greg?" a voice said and he turned his head, trying to ignore the machine he was hooked up to. Sara was sat at his bedside to the right of him and his heart lifted when he saw her.

"Sara? Are you okay?" Greg asked suddenly, trying to pull himself up and prop himself up higher on his pillows but Sara reached forward and placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him back.

"Greg I'm fine," she smiled warmly, tears pricked at her eyes but Greg knew they were tears of happiness. "Everyone else was here but they went for breakfast. I stayed here for when you woke up. They should be back in a few minutes." Sara explained and Greg scolded himself for thinking the team would abandon him in his time of need.

"What happened?" he asked, contenting himself with a slight groan of pain as he shifted and pain shot through his shoulder.

"Well you were shot." Sara said and he smiled at her.

"I remember that part. I meant what happened with the guys who kidnapped you?" he asked and she shifted uncomfortably.

"They wanted the money and they didn't realise I was a CSI when they took me. They thought I was just some random chick on the street and they happened across me but they thought they could get a couple thousand to pay off some old gambling debts and get out of the state. When they took my wallet and found my licence they realised that since I was with the police they could get a hell of a lot more. They didn't hurt me or anything they just told me what to do and they bluffed. I wouldn't usually have fallen for it so easily but, I've never been more scared in my life. I gave in and went along with what they told me to do because they told me that one of them was ex-army and was an expert in bombs. They told me they had one planted in the station and unless I did exactly what they wanted they would send everyone there sky high. So I did what they wanted, I was just told to train my gun on whoever came through the door, on you. I wasn't expecting you Greg, I was expecting Grissom or Nick or maybe even Warwick but not you. Why did Grissom pick you?" she asked and Greg was surprised at how calm she was being about the whole situation.

"He thought it would give us the element of surprise I guess. Something about having the upper hand. At the time I was too freaked to pay much attention but I'm sure he'll explain his exact reasoning to you later." Greg said lightly and Sara smiled. "Probably because I was so desperate to be out of the field." He added quietly and Sara's smile turned sympathetic.

"Things have been rough for you this past year haven't they? Since Katie left I mean." She commented and he nodded slightly.

"It's just so lonely in the lab now. I mean there are other guys there but I miss being around people who mock Me." he smiled weakly and Sara laughed.

"Well I'm sure if you asked Nick and Warwick they would do it for you all the time." She smiled and he returned it.

"Me too." He said and there was a pause. "So how bad is my war wound?" he asked, trying to crane his neck to get a look but he couldn't.

"It's okay, it was quite bad straight off but we managed to keep it under control until the medics arrived. You passed out pretty much as soon as you saw the blood but it wasn't too serious. A couple inches to the left it would have got your artery so you're lucky thug number three was a bad shot." Sara explained and Greg nodded.

"I'm sure it'll be a hit with the ladies." He winked and Sara laughed. Just hearing her laugh gave Greg a warm glow inside of him that comforted him immensely. He had been so frightened when he had gone into that house, frightened of what he might find and how he might have found her. But she was fine, she was unharmed. She was perhaps a little traumatised but she was going to be absolutely fine.

She opened her mouth to reply but her phone began to ring. She held up a finger to tell him she would be back momentarily as she fished out her phone and looked at the caller ID.

"It's the lab…" she said in a confused tone, her forehead creasing. She flipped open the phone and held it up to her ear. "Hello?" she said and listened for a moment before a smile touched her lips and she restrained laughter. "Well I'm in the hospital and so is he so technically I should say no, but since he just took a bullet for me I think I can work on keeping the nurses out for a few minutes so they can talk. Can you re-direct the call through? Okay, thanks." Sara smiled and hung up.

"Katie called the lab, looking for you." She explained. "They're going to re-direct the call through to my cell so you can talk to her." she smiled and Greg smiled back. He hadn't spoken to Katie in such a long time. Sara's cell phone trilled and she handed it to him. "I'll be just outside." She smiled and left. Greg flipped the phone up and held it to his ear.

"Hello?" he said and immediately Katie's voice rushed at him like a tsunami of excitement.

"Greg? Hello! How are you? Why aren't you at the lab? I thought you'd be at the lab you're always at the lab. I even checked your work schedule to ensure you'd be working when I called and at a time when you're usually on a break so as to not interfere with anything you might be doing. But you're not at the lab, how come? And how come you're with Sara? Oh my goodness are you two on a date? That's great!" she gabbled and Greg couldn't stop the grin across his face.

"Hey Katie, actually we're at the hospital. Sara was kidnapped and I helped bring her home." Greg explained as Katie took a breath. She was silent for a second.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed in shock. Her voice sounded exactly as Greg had imagined it in Dream Katie and he was glad in a way that she was gone. He much preferred the real Katie, he didn't need an imagination of her. "Is Sara okay?" she exclaimed.

"Yeah Sara's fine. We're actually here because of me." Greg said.

"Oh my God, are you okay?" Katie cried and he could hear the panic in her voice, her breathing was quickening and for a second he was scared she might be having a panic attack halfway across the world.

"Yeah Katie I'm fine! I just got shot…" he began and he heard her whimper slightly and then there was a loud noise to indicate she'd sat down very quickly. "But Katie I'm fine! Nothing serious! I'll be out of hospital by this afternoon." He lied to offer her comfort and she made another incoherent noise.

"Katie?" he said down the phone and she made a noise that he took as 'give me a second'. He smiled and waited for her to catch her breath.

"Were you very heroic?" she asked after a couple of minutes and he laughed suddenly.

"I was very heroic!" he grinned.

"Are you in the field now then?" she asked excitedly, "Did you get out of the lab at last?"

"No, not yet. Just because the case was personal Grissom asked me to help out." he said.

"Oh," she replied and he could hear the disappointment in her voice. "Well you'll get there. And you'd better hurry up because I passed all my exams! That means I'm going on straight away to start my field training. I'm going to be a CSI!" she explained and was returning to her gabbling. "Actually that's why I called. I don't start for another couple of months and my dad's away in Scotland with my sister so I thought I could come to Vegas for a little while and come see you and everyone at the lab? I've missed you all so much!"

"Yes!" Greg answered immediately. "That'd be great! You should definitely come!"

"Fantastic! I'll book my flight and let you know when I'm coming. I'll see you soon Greg." She spoke quickly and then there was a pause and Greg heard a male voice in the background. "I have to go now Greg." She said quickly. "Bye." She spoke quickly and hung up immediately.

Greg flipped the phone shut and looked at it for a moment. Everything was going to be fine after all.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Nick grimaced as he glanced around the room. It took a lot to make him feel queasy but this room really succeeded in reminding him of his lunch. Blood splattered every single wall, mixed in with various body parts and piles of things which couldn't even be counted as "parts". It was disgusting, and the worst part was that he and Grissom had to document as much as possible. They had no idea how many people had been killed in the blast and they needed to know in order to determine other factors such as motivation and the reason the bomb had been set off. They needed to know their victimology so they needed to find their victims. Unfortunately according to a couple of very upset witnesses, there had been a considerable number of people gathering in this particular warehouse, a kind of party.

'How many do you have so far Nick?' Grissom asked from across the other side of the warehouse where he stood and slipped another swab into a small plastic bag.

'Fifty-seven, how many do you have?' Nick responded and he heard Grissom sigh.

'Sixty-nine.' Grissom replied grimly and Nick shook his head.

'This was some party.' Nick said quietly but the cavernous warehouse amplified his voice enough for Grissom to hear.

'It was probably a good one too. Just a shame the party-goers had to be practically liquified.' He replied and Nick groaned and tried hard not to think about throwing up.

'Well Greg will be happy to be busy I'm sure.' Grissom commented as he walked over to his friend and colleague, Nick decided to concentrate on Grissom rather than the shallow pool of blood he was stood in.

'Yeah I'm sure he'll be ecstatic.' Nick replied drily. 'But here's the thing, this is the third bombing case in two months, each one growing in size and victims. What's the endgame? They're getting more confident sure, but how confident do they need to be? Where are they headed?'

'The first location was an empty pre-school in the middle of the night. No casualties. The second location was a public park. Three dead and seven injured. This is the third location and it's a packed pre-planned party. Massive amounts of death. This is a quick escalation.' Grissom mused.

'But there's no apparent link, what's the message? Bombers always have a message to send.' Nick said and Grissom shrugged.

'They don't like kids of any age?' Grissom suggested and Nick rolled his eyes.

'I'm being serious Grissom.' he said and Grissom nodded as he began to walk towards the door, Nick followed him.

'I'm deadly seriously too. But the thing is you're right. There aren't any correlations between these locations which means it's something esle.' Grissom said and Nick sighed and breathed in fresh air as they left the warehouse, the air felt cleaner outside.

'What is it?' Nick asked and Grissom stopped and looked at him.

'Nothing. It's just an escalation. There's no message, not yet. But after this, I imagine our friendly bombers message will be revealed soon. Hopefully just in time for Katie, she'll find it very intriguing I'm sure.' Grissom said and Nick was confused.

'What do mean in time for Katie? She's still in London I thought?' Nick said and Grissom smiled at him.

'You can't tell anyone, she wanted to keep it a secret and surprise everyone. She's coming to visit probably within the next couple of days. Something tells me she'll end up helping Greg out with all of these DNA samples.' Grissom said and Nick grinned.

'Katie's coming? That's great! I haven't seen her in forever.' Nick smiled and Grissom smiled back.

'None of us have. We've all missed her and I think having her back around will be good for us. Besides her arrival might mean Greg will be slightly less frustrated with the amount of work he'll have to do.'

'I don't think Greg will ever appreciate the amount of work he has to do.' Nick said as they began to move towards their cars again and Grissom chuckled.

'That's very true. But she might help to soften the blow.'

'Let's hope so.' Nick smiled as they got into their separate cars. Grissom drove off leaving Nick alone at the crime scene. He stared out at the warehouse, police were still swarming the place since they were done, he couldn't believe that they had collected so many potentially different samples, but then there was also the possibility that they had missed so many. It was certainly the goriest and most violent crime scene he had ever processed and he hoped he never had to encounter another like it ever again.

But the thought of Katie returned overshadowed his disgust at the crime scene. When Katie was around everything seemed brighter and different. It was so easy to forget that she was just a child and he couldn't help but treat her like any other member of the team. She was his colleague and friend and he missed her. He couldn't wait for her to return. He wished he could tell Greg because he knew that he would be so excited to see her too. The pair of them had been so close and to see them together again would be sure to bring a whole new level of happiness to the lab. It had been a long time since they'd had something good come their way, it was time for something to change and for them to finally receive some happiness.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

It had been a long time since Katie Sparks had set foot in the Las Vegas crime lab. She walked through the doors and was instantly greeted with a busy bustle of people at the front desk trying to get the receptionists attention. At the front of the queue was a very tired and bored looking delivery man who was in charge of a cart of what looked like DNA evidence. Katie smiled and moved forwards to the front of the queue. If the cart was DNA evidence then that meant they were going to Greg.

The lady at the front of the desk wasn't Sandra who was usually the one there but the girl vaguely recognised her and when Katie flashed her badge she waved her through.

'Hey, I can take this through?' She offered brightly and the delivery man looked relieved. 'I know where I'm going don't worry.'

The receptionist looked wary but the delivery man signed his papers and left as quickly as he possibly could. The receptionist sighed as the next impatient person pushed to the front and nodded at Katie who shrugged lightly and smiled sympathetically at her.

Katie took the cart and kicked off the brakes before pushing it in the direction of the lab. She knew exactly where she was going, but it was a long time since she'd pushed a DNA cart, and this one was heavy. She wondered if these were all from the same crime scene and she looked to see what she could see, but they were all encased securely inside of what looked like a trunk.

Instead of focusing on the evidence she looked ahead of her where she was going and saw Catherine and Warwick arguing as they left one of the forensics rooms. Catherine turned to look at Warwick as she retorted to his comment, but instead she caught sight of Katie and her words were lost on the tip of her tongue. She grinned and squealed as she ran towards Katie, who kicked on the brakes again and moved around the cart so Catherine could catch her in a hug.

'Katie!' Catherine exclaimed as Warwick realised what was happening and walked over to join them.

'Hi Catherine! I missed you!' Katie giggled over her shoulder and Catherine slowly let her go but held her at arms length.

'You got tall...' Warwick commented, looking her up and down.

'You are very tall for your age.' Catherine nodded as she squeezed her arms and Katie giggled.

'Maybe you guys have just shrunk from lack of sunlight?' She suggested and Catherine giggled again.

'That's very possible.' Warwick replied with a smile and pulled Katie away from Catherine for a hug of his own.

'It's really good to see you again, Katie. But what are you doing here?' He asked.

'Technically just visting but if all of this is DNA evidence something tells me that Greg's going to rope me in to helping him.'

'Yeah that sounds like something Greg would do.' Catherine smiled as she studied her face again.

'Speaking of which you better get this evidence to Greg so he can start. We have to get changed for court.' Warwick explained, gently prising Catherine away from Katie but not before she pulled her in for one more hug.

'Oh Katie, we'll take you out for breakfast as soon as we can.' Catherine said and Katie smiled in response.

'I look forward to it.'

'Catherine, court.' Warwick said and Catherine nodded and let go of Katie, mouthing one more goodbye as they walked away in the direction of their lockers. Katie couldn't stop the grin on her face as she returned to pushing the cart through the corridors in the direction of Greg's lab.

As she neared his lab, she began to feel oddly nervous. She couldn't tell if it was excitement or something else, but she didn't let it stop her feet from continuing to move. She took a deep breath and pushed through the door to Greg's lab.

He was stood hunched over some papers that Nick had given him about the case. He had his back to Katie, who let the door close behind her, he didn't turn around.

'About time, I've been waiting for these samples for over two hours. Do you have any idea how valuable my time is?' He asked in a mock exhasperation that Katie knew was an act to make him feel more valued in the lab. She had missed him so.

'I'm sorry. I got held up catching up with some old friends.' She said and Greg whipped around with a hopeful, wide eyed expression. 'Catherine took some convincing to let go.'

'Katie...' Greg whispered in disbelief. Katie moved forward and around the cart so she was stood by him.

'That's me.' Greg looked her up and down, she was taller than he remembered.

'Are you real?' He asked and she giggled.

'Yeah I'm pretty real. I could pinch you if you'd like?' She suggested and he nodded dumbly.

She reached out and pinched his arm hard and he exclaimed in pain.

'Ouch! You are real.' He seemed surprised and perplexed.

'I told you so.' She smirked. 'Are you not happy to see me?' She said, slightly hurt at this less than enthusiastic response to her return.

'Yes! Yes I am happy! You have no idea! It's just been so long!' He grinned suddenly and they threw their arms around one another.

It was almost perfectly timed, that the bomb should go off exactly when they hugged. Their moment of happiness shattered by the literal explosion around them. Katie's body protected Greg from the most of the damage but they were both thrown back into the lab bench and rolled underneath it, both knocked completely unconscious. The lab reverberated and cries of shock came from all around. The bomb took out the entirety of Greg's lab and the majority of the surrounding labs, the fires began and everyone was evacuated that could walk.

The smoke began to fill the lab and Greg and Katie's fingers were almost touching, only the rubble separating them now instead of the ocean.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Greg's eyes slowly eased open but it was the ringing in his ears which reminded him of what had just happened. It was so loud that he thought it would all just mesh together into one long, shrill scream. At first he thought it was a scream, he thought it was Katie's scream. So when his eyes eased open and the first thing he saw was her face, panic overtook him and a blind fear ran through him until he was sure that he wouldn't be able to move at all ever again. He was completely paralyzed, only able to survey her face and do nothing else. Her face was largely undamaged, it was darkened with soot and she had a few superficial cuts but nothing too major. There was a large purple bruise already forming on her forehead from where she had hit the floor, but Greg was sure that that wasn't the reason she was unconscious. Slowly, he forced his eyes to survey the rest of her body and assess her injuries.

Her back was the worst; it was a mess of blood and torn skin that hung off of her in strips, sizzling slightly from the blast. Greg sat up slowly to get a closer look and realised that her body had spared him from having this fate applied to his face. She had saved his life. He couldn't tell where the blood was coming from, he had nothing to staunch the bleeding, he began to panic again as he took in his surroundings and realised that they were trapped, there was nothing he could do.

He began to hyperventilate as his vision darted from one fire to the next, blocking every single exit, one of them dangerously close. He knew that they needed to move, that any number of chemicals in that exact room could cause even more explosions, they needed to get to cover; but he couldn't move. Once again he was paralysed, only able to look around in wide-eyed fear.

A small but sudden cough brought him crashing back to reality quickly as he whipped around to see Katie coming to vaguely, she tried to lift her head and coughed again. Her cough was broken by the smoke already unwittingly inhaled and something snapped in Greg, this girl had saved his life and now it was his duty to return the favour. He forced himself to remain calm and shuffled back over to where she lay, trying to lift her head and open her eyes, she grimaced in pain.

"Greg?" She asked in a small voice and he stroked her hair soothingly as he looked around for some kind of escape route.

"Katie, keep your face down towards the ground." Greg instructed her, hearing his own voice coarse. But whether she couldn't hear him or her hearing was numbed by the pain he didn't know. However, it was only a moment later that everything seemed to register with her and there was a moment of extreme pain where she cried out in a heart breaking sob and then passed out again from the intense pain of her back.

"Katie?" Greg spoke softly and gently took her shoulder and shook it, his hand came away covered in blood but he didn't care. She didn't respond and once again the panic took over, this time he was unsure how to shake it.

"Katie!" He shouted again and this time he didn't care at all, he took her up in his arms and held her close to his chest. She didn't resist, she didn't make a sound, she simply lay there and allowed herself to be pulled into his lap like a rag doll. Her face was close to his and he noticed her breathing beginning to falter. He couldn't let her die like this, not after her being away for so long, but he was frozen and unable to think, he couldn't get out.

He didn't notice the tears pouring down his cheeks until he saw them splash onto Katie's face and make tracks in the soot.

"Katie?" He whispered, his voice breaking as he gave in to the sobs and allowed them to rack his body. He held her close and rocked her backwards and forwards.

"Help!" He screamed suddenly, unaware of how he had the energy and motivation to give such a noise. It was as if he was detached from his body, his voice acted of its own free will, fighting to save both him and Katie.

"Help!" He heard himself yell again and again and again. He yelled until his throat burned and his voice cracked, his eyes never leaving Katie's unresponsive face. Around him, the fire raged on, catching on and growing ever closer to surrounding them.


End file.
